Youngest Monkeypox Case Is an Infant under 2 Months from Florida, CDC Confirms

The viral infection monkeypox was usually only found in West Africa, but it has also infected other continents in the past months. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms in a news release the youngest monkeypox case in an infant less than two months old in Florida.

Florida Department of Health (FDOH) officials were notified of a suspected monkeypox case after the child developed a rash and cellulitis last August that had been present for five days. The baby was taken to the hospital, where it tested positive for monkeypox.

Monkeypox Cases in Infants and Children

The monkeypox case of the infant marked the 27th confirmed case in children below 15 years old during the current outbreak in the US. To date, more than 100 children in other countries have also been diagnosed with monkeypox disease due to the outbreak.

Newsweek reported that the infected infant from Florida had no history of travel, no history of any acute infections three weeks before its symptoms started appearing, was not an immunocompromised individual, did not attend any childcare facility, and had no caregivers not living in their home.

However, several of the infant's four caregivers had skin-to-skin contact with other people, wherein one of its caregivers also tested positive for the monkeypox virus. Infants below six months old are often breastfed, which might have increased exposure to the virus.

CDC wrote in the news release that contact tracing and postexposure prophylaxis vaccination of close contacts of the infected baby might have prevented the transmission of the virus to household members. The infected infant has now fully recovered from monkeypox.

But aside from the infant in Florida, New Hampshire also reported its first pediatric monkeypox case last week. According to their press release, a child in Manchester contracted the virus after an identified exposure to a household contact diagnosed with it earlier.

CDC recommends that clinicians consider the monkeypox disease as a differential diagnosis for pediatric patients, especially those presenting pustular or vesicular rashes that could be one of the symptoms. They also encourage them to be aware of the possibility of household transmission of the virus to young children or infants, particularly those susceptible to catching an infection.

Monkeypox on Surfaces

The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) cited some studies to check any possibility of viral transmission of monkeypox virus via surfaces.

The first is a preprint study from Singapore, which reports isolating viable monkeypox virus from surface and dust samples. But the team found no viable virus from 179 environmental samples taken in the patient's hospital room. They checked for air, surface, and dust contamination during the first eight days of the illness until the 21st day, when contamination was at its lowest.

Another case report talks about the possible tattoo transmission of the monkeypox virus. The study, titled "Possible tattoo-transmitted monkeypox viral infection," published in the journal Internal and Emergency Medicine, describes a patient who reportedly got a tattoo in Spain seven days before rash development. But authors confirm that the rash only developed where the tattoo needle was inserted.

Lastly, a study about a Brazilian nurse who likely contracted the monkeypox virus during a needlestick injury developed lesions five days later. The nurse subsequently tested positive for monkeypox. Researchers noted that postexposure prophylaxis could prevent monkeypox virus bloodborne transmission.

Check out more news and information on Monkeypox in Science Times.