• Andrés Martínez-Arias, Lluís Valerio, Xavier Vallès, DíezSílvia RoureSRPrograma de Salut Internacional (PROSICS) Metropolitana nord, Infectious Diseases Service, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain., Laura Soldevila Langa, Primary Health Mpox Study Group, Èlia Fernandez Pedregal, Àgueda Hernàndez Rodríguez, Mar Isnard-Blanchard, Josep Maria Bonet Simó, Núria Prat Gil, Anna Cirera, Bonaventura Clotet, and Emili Gené Tous.
• Consorci Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, Emergency Service, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Medicine Department, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address: aamartinez@taui.cat.
• Aten Primaria. 2024 Sep 24; 57 (3): 103089103089.

Main AimIn 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.DesignAn observational prospective study performed between June 01, 2022 and December 31, 2023.SettingThe Northern Metropolitan area of Barcelona, with 1400.000hab (Catalonia, Spain).MethodsAn 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.ParticipantsAll patients who met clinical and/or epidemiological criteria of Mpox.Data CollectionAge, gender, risk classification (suspected/probable), cluster-linked (yes/no), high-risk sexual contact (yes/no), general symptoms, genital lesion and final diagnostic.ResultsA 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.ConclusionsIn 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.

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