A particularly severe form of Mpox (the new name for monkeypox), which is often fatal for those in the late stages of the disease, has been found in patients infected with the HIV virus, according to a study published Tuesday in a medical journal. Lancet, inform AFP and Agerpres.

The Mpox epidemic that spread around the world in 2022, before subsiding significantly, affected mostly men in homosexual relationships.

However, this is a population that has a higher percentage of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS in its later stages, affecting the patient’s immunity and making them vulnerable to a range of diseases.

In this context, the researchers analyzed the specific risks that Mpox poses to patients already infected with HIV. Thus, the authors of the study studied the case of about 400 patients infected with both HIV and Mpox.

In their case, scientists discovered a very serious form of the disease, which they called “fulminant Mpox.”

What are the symptoms of “lightning” monkeypox

This form, which is concentrated in patients in whom HIV infection is in an advanced stage, leads to massive necrosis of the skin, genitals and even the lungs. This caused the death of 27 patients.

All of them exceeded the threshold for the onset of AIDS (acquired human immunodeficiency syndrome): less than 200 CD4 T-lymphocytes per mm3 of blood. These deaths alone account for a significant portion of the approximately one hundred deaths recorded during the epidemic, out of several tens of thousands of cases of infection.

According to the researchers, these findings should encourage health care authorities to prioritize vaccination of people with HIV against Mpox.

They also ask to add this severe form of Mpox to the list of diseases characteristic of AIDS. This list includes about 15 diseases that are considered particularly dangerous in the case of progressive HIV infection.

In late November last year, the World Health Organization announced it would start using “mpox,” the new preferred term for monkeypox, and urged others to follow suit amid accusations that the disease’s current name is racist.

Before the decision, the WHO also complained about the wave of attacks recorded on monkeys due to the spread of the disease, stressing that primates had nothing to do with it.