Eurosurv. Epidemiological, clinical and virological characteristics of four cases of monkeypox support transmission through sexual contact, Italy, May 2022

[tetano]

• Andrea Antinori¹ , Valentina Mazzotta¹ , Serena Vita¹ , Fabrizio Carletti¹ , Danilo Tacconi² , Laura Emma Lapini² , Alessandra D’Abramo¹ , Stefania Cicalini¹ , Daniele Lapa¹ , Silvia Pittalis¹ , Vincenzo Puro¹ , Marco Rivano Capparuccia³ , Emanuela Giombini¹ , Cesare Ernesto Maria Gruber¹ , Anna Rosa Garbuglia¹ , Alessandra Marani¹ , Francesco Vairo¹ , Enrico Girardi¹ , Francesco Vaia¹ , Emanuele Nicastri¹ , the INMI Monkeypox Group⁴

Since May 2022, an outbreak of monkeypox has been ongoing in non-endemic countries. We report four cases in Italy in young adult men reporting condomless sexual intercourse. The patients are in good clinical condition with no need for specific antiviral drugs. Biological samples from seminal fluid were positive for monkeypox viral DNA. For many other viruses found in semen there is no evidence of sexual transmission. The possibility of sexual transmission of monkeypox virus needs to be investigated.

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.22.2200421#html_fulltext