The new Clade 1b strain of Mpox (formerly known as Monkeypox) is concerning because it can easily spread between individuals through physical contact and result in increasing fatality rates, including among youngsters, according to infectious disease experts (1).

The new strain, which is now isolated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa, differs from Mpox clade 2b, which produced a global outbreak in 2022, with 94,707 confirmed cases in 107 countries.

New Strain of Monkeypox is More Fatal

“The DRC has had such endemic occurrences for a long time. Mpox clade 1, which is more fatal and conspicuous, has existed for decades. But now it has grown more transmissible because of new variants, that is clade 1b,” infectious disease expert Dr. Ishwar Gilada said.

“Unlike Clade 1, the new strain Clade 1b, estimated to have jumped to humans around September 2023, has a high mortality rate and is not limited to men who have sex with men (MSM),” stated Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association’s National Covid-19 Task Force.

According to academicians at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Clade 1B has a mortality rate of 5% in adults and 10% in children. They stated that the new clade can harm men and women who have not had sexual interaction, as well as infants, and can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

“The new strain of Mpox is worrying precisely because it may transmit more easily between people than the earlier strain,” said Gautam Menon, Dean of Research and Professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University.

Discrepancies in the Fatality Rate Due to MPox

Meanwhile, the Africa CDC reported a 6.7% overall fatality rate from 4,488 probable Mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024. 70% of cases and 88% of overall deaths occurred in youngsters under the age of fifteen. Dr. Rajeev stated that it is unclear whether all these cases were caused by the new clade 1b strain or the original clade 1 strain.

“It is difficult to estimate the true fatality rate because not every case will be reported or documented. Another issue with the clade 1 variant of Mpox is that it might be mistaken for chickenpox, a common virus. Recent research on doctors found that simply looking at the lesions made it difficult to differentiate between the two. Thus, there may be discrepancies in the number of reported instances,” Dr Rajeev stated.

Do We Need Travel Restrictions to Prevent the Spread of Monkeypox?

There are no indications that this novel clade 1b strain has spread to other countries.

However, “if global travel spreads this new strain to other parts of the world, person-to-person transmission may occur through sexual or physical contact, or both.” If that happens, the distribution pattern will differ from the 2022 outbreak, which did not notably affect women and children,” Dr. Rajeev added. “Until such data becomes available, there is no obvious risk to India at this time,” said Mr. Singh.

Dr. Ishwar, who is also the Secretary General of the People’s Health Organization of India, has advocated for increased caution when it comes to whole genome sequencing.

“There should be some sort of guidelines. We do not yet have any cases of Mpox in India, but we should be careful and continue to monitor the worldwide situation,” he said.

Dr. Gautam stated that there are vaccinations for Mpox, adding that the virus “mutates more slowly than the virus causing COVID-19, and it still appears relatively difficult to transmit.” We should exercise caution at this time, but no more harsh precautions are required.”

References:

1. New Mpox Clade 1b worrying, can spread via physical contact, raise mortality rate
   (https://in.investing.com/news/general-news/new-mpox-clade-1b-worrying-can-spread-via-physical-contact-raise-mortality-rate-4284340)

Source-Medindia