NEW monkeypox symptoms have been discovered in the UK as cases of the illness continue to rise.
At present there are around 1,235 cases of the bug in the country, with Brits being warned to heed caution at summer events.
In the UK, the majority of the cases have been seen in London – which holds 692 infections.
Now, medics have revealed that patients attending sexual health clinics in the capital are experiencing symptoms that have not been seen in previous outbreaks.
Most people who get the illness will usually have cold and flu like symptoms such as a fever and headache – before a rash appears.
Experts looked at 54 monkeypox patients who tested positive during a 12 day period in May this year.
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They found that patients in London were predominately presenting with skin lesions in the genital area – with tiredness and fever being lesser symptoms compared with previous outbreaks.
All the patients in the study were symptomatic andpresented with some sort of skin lesions
Analysis found that 94 per cent had at least one skin lesion on the genital or perianal skin – signs that have not previously been noted.
Around 18 per cent did not report any symptoms before they recognised they had skin issues.
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It's important to note that most people had mild illness and recovered at home.
There were just five individuals who were admitted to hospital due to pain or infection of the lesions
Dr Ruth Byrne, from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust added that a quarter of patients also tested positive for gonorrhoea or chlamydia at the same time as the monkeypox infection.
She added: "It is possible that at various stages of the infection monkeypox may mimic common STIs, such as herpes and syphilis, in its presentation.
"It’s important that sexual health clinicians and patients are aware of the symptoms of monkeypox as misdiagnosis of the infection may prevent the opportunity for appropriate intervention and prevention of onward transmission.
"Additional resources are urgently required to support services in managing this condition.”
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Experts at the UK Health Security Agency have said all Brits should be on the look out for key signs and symptoms.
The signs may include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Backache
- Chills
- Exhaustion
- Night sweats
- Cold-like symptoms, such as congestion and runny nose
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Swollen groin
- Rash
Medics said that complications of the illness were documented as:
- low mood
- severe pain
- conjunctivitis
Writing in the The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, experts said thehigh prevalence of genital skin lesions in patients means sexual health clinics are set to see more cases of monkeypox in the future.
Dr Nicolo Girometti, from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "Currently, the UK and several other countries are seeing a rapid increase in monkeypox cases among individuals attending sexual health clinics, with no apparent links to countries where the disease is endemic.
"Monkeypox is a novel diagnosis within the sexual health setting and our study, the first to publish on cases from this UK outbreak, will support future case finding and clinical care.”
The report from the clinic in London comes days after medics in the US said doctors needed to be on the lookout for less common signs of the illness.
In the US there are currently with 460 cases with California being worst hit.
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said some patients are experiencing these five symptoms:
- Rash around genitals and anus
- Rash in the lining of the mouth
- Pain in the anus and rectum
- Inflammation
- Struggling to pass stools.
In a report from the CDC, medics explained that while rashes are common, they don't usually feature in the tissue in the lining of the mouth.
Other patients have said rashes have caused them to experience pain in the anus and rectum and in some cases, rectal bleeding has occurred.
Many have also had painful inflammation of the rectal lining – with others experiencing the sensation of having to poo when their bowels are actually empty.
The World Health Organisation's Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "It’s now clear that there is an unusual situation, meaning even the virus is behaving unusually from how it used to behave in the past."
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Details from the CDC report state that for some people who have the bug, rashes have been either 'scattered or localised' to a specific part of the body.
However, medics also stated that common flu-like symptoms that often occur with cases of monkeypox 'have not always occurred before the rash if they have occurred at all.'
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