Monkeypox - a description of the clinical progression of skin lesions: a case report from Colorado, USA

Yeimer Ortiz-Martínez; Alfonso J Rodríguez-Morales; Carlos Franco-Paredes; Daniel B Chastain; Amal A Gharamti; Lilian Vargas Barahona; Andrés F Henao-Martínez

doi:10.1177/20499361221117726

Monkeypox - a description of the clinical progression of skin lesions: a case report from Colorado, USA

Ther Adv Infect Dis. 2022 Jul 27:9:20499361221117726. doi: 10.1177/20499361221117726. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Yeimer Ortiz-Martínez¹, Alfonso J Rodríguez-Morales², Carlos Franco-Paredes³, Daniel B Chastain⁴, Amal A Gharamti⁵, Lilian Vargas Barahona⁶, Andrés F Henao-Martínez⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
² Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Faculty of Medicine, Fundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, Pereira, Colombia.
³ Hospital Infantil de México, Federico Gómez, Mexico City, Mexico.
⁴ Department of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia, Albany, GA, USA.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, Waterbury, CT, USA.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, 12700 E. 19th Avenue, Mail Stop B168, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.

Abstract

A rapidly emerging global outbreak of monkeypox virus infection (MPXV) in over 50 non-endemic countries was identified in May 2022. We report the case and images of a patient with MPXV presenting with genital lesions later complicated by superimposed cellulitis in Colorado, USA. MPXV lesions are susceptible to bacterial superinfection, and with the advent of new cases, the early identification of skin lesions and their evolution during MPXV are imperative for treating clinicians. Clinicians should consider MPXV in differential diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases presenting with genital lesions.

Keywords: Orthopoxvirus; bacterial cellulitis; imported viral diseases; monkeypox; travel medicine.

Publication types

Case Reports