Girls, Young Women More Susceptible To Clade Ib Mpox Subvariant, Study Suggests

Bloomberg (10/21, Sguazzin, Subscription Publication) reports, “Girls and young women may be more susceptible to an infectious subvariant of the virus that causes mpox that has spread from Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries, a study showed.” Researchers found that “of 154 cases that tested positive for mpox in Burundi, which borders eastern Congo, from July 3 to Sept. 9 the median age was 9.5 years.” Study results indicate that “the average age of girls who were infected was six years old, while boys were 17.5 years old.” The subvariant, called “clade Ib, appears to spread more rapidly than an earlier variant, with hundreds of children having died of the disease in eastern Congo.” The findings were published in Eurosurveillance.