Patients recruited in Switzerland for monkeypox study

The Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) said it had recruited its first three patients © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

A study involving ten European countries, including Switzerland, has been launched to better understand monkeypox. It will follow people affected by the disease, record their symptoms and study their response to treatment.

The Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) said it had recruited its first three patients.

The study builds on ongoing work in the Central African Republic to better characterise the disease in countries where recent spread has been reported. For the moment Switzerland is the first country to recruit patients for the study. The aim is to extend it to as many countries as possible.

“Thanks to this unprecedented international collaboration, we will be able to contribute to a better understanding of the disease and thus to adjust our response in the fight against it,” said Alexandra Calmy, head of the HIV/AIDS Unit at the HUG.

At least 500 patients are expected to be included in the study, she added. To date, ten countries have announced their participation: Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

Rarely fatal

Monkeypox is a relatively rare disease. It usually causes a painful rash but is rarely fatal. It was discovered in the late 1950s, with outbreaks occurring in communities in central and western Africa. The disease is now spreading to Europe.

More than 50 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases exceed 7,600. Switzerland had 140 confirmed cases as of July 8.

In Switzerland, as elsewhere in Europe, the population most affected by the disease comprises young men who are involved in “dense sexual networks” and in particular who report having gay sex, Calmy said.