Written By: IJCP Editorial Team

Published On: 29 Oct, 2022 12:34 PM | Updated On: 16 May, 2024 4:52 AM

Monkeypox in pediatric age

A recent report describes a case of a three-year-old girl who presented with cutaneous lesions in the absence of fever, pruritus, or other symptoms. Physical examination showed the presence of polymorphous cutaneous lesions localized to the buttocks, with umbilicated pustular, vesicular, and papular elements, which were not more than 3 mm in diameter. She showed no evidence of oral, perianal, or genital lesions. The physicians also didn't note any significant lymph node or visceral organ enlargement, and the rest of the examination was normal. 

Her father was diagnosed with a monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection a few hours earlier. The patient had no history of travel or contact with animals. Her vesicular fluid swab specimen testing came positive for MPXV (real-time polymerase chain reaction). 

She received instructions to isolate at home, maintaining contact, airborne, and droplet precautions until the full resolution of the cutaneous lesions (at ten days from onset). There were no complications at the 2-month follow-up and no development of new lesions. Further, no additional cases were reported in any contacts in the school.

Sopena MR, Xicota LN, Rodríguez AH, et al. Monkeypox, also in pediatric age. Asociacion Espanola de Pediatrıa. 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2022.10.003