A Commentary on “Clinical characteristics of human monkeypox laboratory confirmed cases: Lessons learned from observational studies” (Int J Surg 2022;104:106795)

Dear Editor,

We would like to share ideas on the publication “Clinical characteristics of human monkeypox laboratory confirmed cases: Lessons from observational studies [1].” The variety of clinical issues related to monkeypox were described by Sahebi and Keikha. Typically, the patient has a cutaneous lesion in addition to a fever. The presence of neither a fever nor a skin lesion, however, occurs commonly [2]. Without unusual presentations, the doctor would fail to detect the problem, which could result in a wrong diagnosis. Additionally, clinical evaluation of typical crust or vesicle forms the basis of further general laboratory investigations [3]. Thus, there is no question that skin lesion are considered as a typical clinical issue. It must be acknowledged that some patients may merely exhibit strange symptoms, such as gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms [[4], [5], [6]]. In cases which involve skin lesions, the lesions may occasionally be atypical, with the possibility of even hemorrhagic vesicles [2]. Surgery increases the likelihood that the disease may spread since the patient may not be diagnosed early. Atypical illness with symptoms must be taken into account. This is a major barrier in overcoming the concept of universal prevention of this new public health issue.

Ethical approval

Not applicable for correspondence.

Sources of funding

No funding

Authors contribution

BJ 50% ideas, writing, analysing, final approval.

VW 50% ideas, supervising, final approval.

Trial register number

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Guarantor

Professor Viroj Wiwanitkit, MD.

Provenance and peer review

Commentary, internally reviewed.

Declaration of competing interest

No conflicts of interest.