How severe is a monkeypox infection?
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:17 am
However, the CDC says it has demographic data only a fraction of reported cases. Unlike its counterparts abroad in places like the United Kingdom and Europe, the agency must rely on details collected and reported "voluntarily" to the agency by local health departments.
The first death of a U.S. patient with monkeypox was reported in late August by Texas health officials, who said the person was "severely immunocompromised." A handful of deaths have been reported in the U.S. and abroad, including in Africa, South America, and Europe.
Compared to its more lethal cousin smallpox, officials have said that cases often resolve after a few weeks without additional treatment. The variant linked to the current outbreak has been spreading in Nigeria since 2017, where around 3% of the people who contracted monkeypox died.
After an incubation period, which the CDC estimates is a telegram database little longer than a week on average, between exposure to an infected person and the first noticeable signs of the infection, patients generally must endure painful lesions as well as other symptoms — like fever and swollen lymph nodes — until their rashes scab over and heal. Like other poxviruses, monkeypox can leave scars.
However, authorities have been careful not to downplay the danger monkeypox's complications might pose beyond its physical pain.
For example, in the United Kingdom, authorities reported that some hospitalized patients faced "severe swelling" that might strangle circulation to the penis. In Spain, some patients were hospitalized due to bacterial infections of their sores.
The CDC says that the patients who are at "especially increased risk" for severe monkeypox disease include:
Young children under 8 years old
People who are pregnant or have a compromised immune system.
People who have a history of eczema or atopic dermatitis.
The first death of a U.S. patient with monkeypox was reported in late August by Texas health officials, who said the person was "severely immunocompromised." A handful of deaths have been reported in the U.S. and abroad, including in Africa, South America, and Europe.
Compared to its more lethal cousin smallpox, officials have said that cases often resolve after a few weeks without additional treatment. The variant linked to the current outbreak has been spreading in Nigeria since 2017, where around 3% of the people who contracted monkeypox died.
After an incubation period, which the CDC estimates is a telegram database little longer than a week on average, between exposure to an infected person and the first noticeable signs of the infection, patients generally must endure painful lesions as well as other symptoms — like fever and swollen lymph nodes — until their rashes scab over and heal. Like other poxviruses, monkeypox can leave scars.
However, authorities have been careful not to downplay the danger monkeypox's complications might pose beyond its physical pain.
For example, in the United Kingdom, authorities reported that some hospitalized patients faced "severe swelling" that might strangle circulation to the penis. In Spain, some patients were hospitalized due to bacterial infections of their sores.
The CDC says that the patients who are at "especially increased risk" for severe monkeypox disease include:
Young children under 8 years old
People who are pregnant or have a compromised immune system.
People who have a history of eczema or atopic dermatitis.