A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that almost 90% of pox-related deaths in the United States were among Black men, CNN noted.
Moreover, nearly all of the victims had weakened immune systems.
To be precise, the report ("Epidemiologic and Clinical Features of Mpox-Associated DeathsUnited States, May 10, 2022March 7, 2023") said that most of those who died were non-Hispanic Black or African American (87%) persons and cisgender men (95%). Among 24 decedents with HIV for whom data were available, all had advanced HIV, typically with a CD4 count of less than 50.
As of March 7, 2023, a total of 30,235 confirmed and probable monkeypox (mpox) cases were reported. During May 10, 2022March 7, 2023, 38 deaths among persons with probable or confirmed mpox (or 1.3 per 1,000 mpox cases) were reported to CDC and classified as mpox-associated.
The gender and racial disparities in mpox-associated deaths aligned with previous reports. In those, most patients hospitalized for severe manifestations of mpox were Black men with uncontrolled HIV, with parallel racial and ethnic disparities in HIV infection and mortality. In 2020, 75% of deaths among adults with HIV occurred in males39% of whom were Black males.
The CDC report is at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7215a5.htm?s_cid=mm7215a5_w.
Andrew Davis