CDC updates monkeypox guidance, case definition for clinicians

Editor's Note

On June 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network health update on guidance to help clinicians evaluate and test patients with relevant history, signs, and symptoms for monkeypox, the American Hospital Association (AHA) June 16 reports. This latest update comes on the heels of an earlier update made on June 1, in which the CDC expanded its monkeypox case definitions.

The latest update includes revised categories of suspected, probable, and confirmed cases of monkeypox to standardize case reporting through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. “In addition, the ‘suspected’ case definition encourages broader suspicion for monkeypox,” the health update noted.

Here are further actions to note from the CDC:

• The agency is tracking multiple cases of monkeypox reported in several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including the US.
• It is urging healthcare providers in the US to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox.
• It is working with state and local health officials to identify people who may have been in contact with individuals who have tested positive for monkeypox.

According to AHA, more than 1,800 cases of monkeypox or orthopoxvirus have been reported globally in 2022, including 72 cases reported in the US. “Monkeypox is rare and does not spread easily between people without close contact,” said the CDC, maintaining that the “threat of monkeypox to the general US population remains low.”