Epidemiological Update: Monkeypox in women – 26 August 2022 – Argentina

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Global situation summary

Between 1 January and 25 August 2022, a total of 46,048 confirmed cases, including 15 deaths, were reported from 99 Member States in all 6 World Health Organization (WHO) Regions. The 15 fatal cases were reported in Brazil (1), the Central African Republic (2), Cuba (1), Ecuador (1), Ghana (3), India (1), Nigeria (4), and Spain (2).

As of 25 August 2022, 52% (24,172 cases in 29 countries and territories) of the confirmed cases were reported in the WHO Region of the Americas, 46% (21,246 cases in 43 countries) in the WHO European Region, <1% (445 cases in 9 countries) in the WHO African Region, <1% (135 cases in 8 countries) in the WHO Western Pacific Region, <1% (36 cases in 7 countries) in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, and <1% (14 cases in 3 countries) in the WHO South-East Asia Region (Figure 1).

During the last 7 days, there was an increase of 15% in the number of cases reported globally and a 23% increase in the number of cases reported in the WHO Region of the Americas. During the same period, there was an increase of 13% in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 10% in the WHO African Region, 8% in the WHO South-East Asia Region, 7% in the WHO European Region, and 3% in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Globally, among confirmed cases for which information is available (n=22,154), 98.2% (21,757) are male with a median age of 36 years old. Regarding sexual orientation, among 10,785 cases with available information, 96% identified as men who have sex with men (MSM). Of the 10,963 cases where information on HIV infection was available, 44% were HIV-positive. Although the highest proportion of monkeypox cases have been identified in men, since epidemiological week 22 of 2022, a continuing increase in the identification of cases among women is being observed.

Monkeypox in women

Of the 22,154 cases reported during 2022 for which there was information available on gender, 397 cases are among women (1.8%). The median age of this group is 30 years. The ratio of women to men in the WHO European Region is 1.2 per 100, and in the WHO Region of the Americas, it is 2,7 per 100. Of the 114 women who reported sexual orientation, 96% are heterosexual. Furthermore, sexual transmission was identified as the most likely mode of transmission among 61% of the women for whom there was available information.