MPOX, the disease resulting from Monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, continues to rise rapidly in Australia, as elsewhere in the world.
It is unclear if Australia has rolled out more of the required PCR-based testing [1] or whether this rise reflects an actual increase in cases, which now total 737.
However, it’s much clearer that the numbers are rising rapidly, even if overall, they’re still fairly low.
Today, data from the latest Australian National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) lists 567 reported MPXV infections in 2024, up from 544 yesterday and 435 nine days ago. See my earlier post in the Update on Monkeypox virus (MPXV) transmission in Australia.
Data on NNDSS is also broken down by month. When graphed, it reveals that most cases so far were identified in August—nearly two and a half times as many as in July.
If we look at the age of those infected, we see that when there are more cases and the spread occurs within Australia, the tails are longer. In other words, in 2024, which has many more MPOX cases (see how the y-axis values change each year) than in 2023 or 2022, cases have appeared in additional age groups out at either end of the graph (its tails) – younger and older.
Despite this, most detected cases occur among those 25-44 years of age, especially 30-40 in the older years.
Although not shown, almost all 737 Australian infections have been detected among males.
That’s all for this snap update (SNAPDATE).
References
- PHLN GUIDANCE ON MONKEYPOX PATIENT REFERRAL, SPECIMEN COLLECTION AND TEST REQUESTING FOR GENERAL PRACTITIONERS AND SEXUAL HEALTH PHYSICIANS.
https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/phln-guidance-on-monkeypox-patient-referral-specimen-collection-and-test-requesting-for-general-practitioners-and-sexual-health-physicians
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