Mpox cases finding: Evaluation of a Primary Care detection program in the Northern Metropolitan area from Barcelona (Spain).

Main Aim: In July 2022, an extensive outbreak of Mpox (monkeypox) was considered by WHO as a Public Health Emergency. The objective of this study is to describe the obtained results from a Mpox case detection program in a semi-urban healthcare area where approximately 420 Primary Care physicians work.
Design: An observational prospective study performed between June 01, 2022 and December 31, 2023.
Setting: The Northern Metropolitan area of Barcelona, with 1400.000hab (Catalonia, Spain).
Methods: An unified Mpox management procedure was agreed, including a prior online training of Primary Care professionals, to individually assess all Mpox suspected cases from a clinical and epidemiological perspective.
Participants: All patients who met clinical and/or epidemiological criteria of Mpox.
Data Collection: Age, gender, risk classification (suspected/probable), cluster-linked (yes/no), high-risk sexual contact (yes/no), general symptoms, genital lesion and final diagnostic.
Results: A total of 68 suspected Mpox cases were included, from which 16 (26.6%) were Mpox confirmed by PCR. Up to 13 (81.2%) were male and, among them, 12 (75%) men who have sex with men (MSM). The series, however, included two minors and three women. Among MSM, 3 (18.7%) were HIV positive and 3 had no regular access to the Public Healthcare system. Among discarded patients, any infectious disease was diagnosed in 55% of cases.
Conclusions: In spite of the short series, this Primary Care community-based study identified a sub-population group showing a different profile of Mpox cases compared to other published series (lower HIV prevalence, higher representativeness of heterosexual transmission and hard to reach population).
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Publicado por Elsevier España S.L.U. All rights reserved.)