the Active ingredient Tecovirimat did not accelerate the healing of people in a clinical study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRK), which were infected with a worrying variant of the monkey (nih) of the United States. The variant called Clade I has spread all over Africa and is considered more fatal than the one who A global MPOX outbreak , known as Clade II.

tecovirimat, an antivirus, is often used to treat MPOX, although there are only limited clinical evidence that it relieves the symptoms. The active ingredient was originally developed for the treatment of smallpox caused by a related orthopic virus.

"These results are certainly not what we had all hoped for," says Jason Kindrachuck, virologist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.

The spread of Clade I in the DRK and other countries of Africa prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) on August 14th to explain the outbreak as an international health emergency of high importance -your highest alarm level. The day before, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared the outbreak as a public health emergency.

and yesterday Sweden reported the first case of a person who was infected with a variant of Clade I called Clade IB, The scientists in April

disappointing results

During the study, which was carried out by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid) of the NIH and the National Institute of Biomedical Research at the DRK, infected people received either TecoviriMat or a placebo pill. According to the nih, , the antivirus does not reduce the duration of the MPOX symptoms compared to the placebo.

The MPOX caused by the monkey compartment can be fluid-filled lesions, fever, headache and In difficult cases also cause death .

However, it was significant that the study participant's mortality rate, regardless of whether they received TecoviriMat or a placebo, was lower than the total sense rate, which is typically reported in the DRK for each MPOX type: 1.7 % versus 3.6 %.

This could be due to the care that the participants received during the study. The 597 people who took part in the study were treated in the hospital for at least 14 days, in which they received nutritional support, adequate hydrogenation, treatment of other infections or illnesses, including malaria, and psychosocial support.

"The supply was very high," says Lori Dodd, biostatistics at Niaid in Bethesda, Maryland, and project manager of the study. The maintenance of this high care standards outside of a clinical study could be a challenge, she adds. "The team will work on how to transmit this supply model for people with MPOX who relax on an outpatient basis and in resource -limited environments".

hope for certain groups

The manufacturer of Tecovirimat, Siga Technologies based in New York City, stated in a press release that study participants who were treated with the medication at an early stage and had a "significant improvement" with serious illness. However, the full data has not yet been published. They are analyzed and a manuscript is prepared for submitting a peer-reviewed journal, according to Dodd.

"We are all looking forward to the article, especially to see whether a group could be selected selectively, especially people with HIV," says Piero Olliaro, infection specialist at the University of Oxford, Great Britain. He points out that the results for people with an advanced HIV infection and an infection with the monkey kit virus tend to be worse 1 .

It is not yet clear whether the study results can be transferred to Clade IB. "So far we know little about Clade IB, and further studies on clinical presentation and the results are required to determine whether new clinical studies are necessary," says Olliaro.

Although these preliminary results are disappointing for TecoviriMat, Kindrachuck says that "If we get resources for the support of patients with Clade I MPOX in the DRK and beyond, we can actually increase recovery".

Nicaise Ndembi, virologist at the Africa CDC based in Addis Ababa, says that the results do not change the reaction plan to the current outbreaks, which includes improving surveillance, an increase in laboratory tests, a strategic distribution of the limited vaccine sockets and negotiations on the acquisition of additional doses. However, they emphasize that adequate care is crucial to reduce the mortality associated with MPOX.

Although a vaccine against MPOX, made by the Bavarian Nordic biotechnology company, exists in Hellerup, Denmark, it is largely not available in African countries. The CEO of Bavarian, Paul Chaplin, Has placed 175,000 cans that are to be donated to the Africa CDC.