A new systematic review states that monkeypox can sometimes lead to neurological complications such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), confusion, or seizures.
Author: medical editor Ekaterina Mazeina 1 minute
The scientists calculated that 2.7% of monkeypox patients experienced at least one seizure, 2.4% experienced confusion, and 2.0% experienced encephalitis, a serious brain inflammation condition that can lead to long-term disability. But data on the prevalence of such symptoms is rather limited, as the review found only two cases of seizures, five cases of encephalitis, and six cases of confusion. Experts believe further research is needed to determine how monkeypox might affect the brain.
Several studies included in this systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence found that muscle pain, fatigue, headache, anxiety, and depression were also relatively common among monkeypox patients. The review included 19 studies with 1512 participants (1031 of whom had confirmed infection) in the United States, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and the United Kingdom.
Monkeypox primarily causes skin lesions and fever and can be fatal, although significantly less than one in 1,000 confirmed cases has been fatal during the current outbreak. Although the virus has been endemic in parts of Central and West Africa for decades with sporadic outbreaks elsewhere, 2022 was the first year that monkeypox spread worldwide, drawing increased attention to an infectious disease that used to be received relatively little attention.