Monkeypox: Study finds antiviral tecovirimat safe and effective for treating monkeypox

A big information related to monkeypox has come out on Monday. According to a small study, the antiviral tecovirimat appears to be safe and effective for treating monkeypox symptoms and skin lesions. Let us inform that this study was done on 25 patients of monkeypox published in the journal JAMA. This is the first study to assess and report the results of treating patients with the disease with antivirals.

How this antiviral works

Tecovirimat (TPOXX) is an antiviral medication for the treatment of smallpox. It limits the viral spread in the body by inhibiting the work of proteins involved in releasing the wrapped virus. Recently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowed physicians to prescribe tecovirimat on a compassionate basis to treat adults and children with orthopoxvirus infections, including monkeypox.

The lead author of the study told

Lead author of this study Angel Desai, an adult infectious disease specialist at the University of California (UC) Davis, said: "We have very limited clinical data on the use of tecovirimat for monkeypox infection. There is much to learn about the natural progression of the disease and how tecovirimat and other antivirals may affect it.'

Monkeypox Outbreak

The recent global outbreak of monkeypox has resulted in more than 45,500 cases as of August 22, 2022. However, its symptoms usually get better on their own in 2-4 weeks. At the same time, a recent study has shown that 13 percent of its patients require hospitalization.

According to new study

The new study primarily involved patients referred to UC Davis Medical Center between June 3 and August 13, 2022, through the Sacramento County Department of Public Health.

Oral tecovirimat treatment was offered to patients with skin lesions on multiple parts of the body or in sensitive areas such as the face or genital area. Its treatment was weight-based. were given every 8 or 12 hours and taken within 30 minutes after a high-fat meal.

Researchers told for treatment

Monkeypox researchers collected clinical data in person or by telephone interview at the first individual assessment for treatment and on Day 7 and Day 21 after initiation of therapy. In total, 25 patients with confirmed monkeypox infection who completed a course of tecovirimat therapy were all male.

His age was between 27 and 76 years. Nine patients had HIV. Only one patient had the smallpox vaccine, taken more than 25 years earlier, and four others received a single dose of JYNNEOS vaccination after symptom onset.

The JYNNEOS vaccine is approved in the United States for the prevention of monkeypox disease in individuals 18 years of age and older at high risk of infection with monkeypox.

This study found that 92 percent of patients had sores in the genital or anal area. While all patients had traumatic lesions, almost half had less than 10 lesions all over their body.