All patients were symptomatic and presented with skin lesions; with 94 percent of them having at least one skin lesion on the genital or perianal skin.
“The commonly observed symptom of skin lesions in the anal and penile areas, and the fact that a quarter of the patients tested positive for gonorrhoea or chlamydia at the same time as the monkeypox infection, suggests that transmission of the monkeypox virus in this cohort is occurring from close skin-to-skin, for example in the context of sexual activity,” said researcher Dr Ruth Byrne.
“However, this finding may be biased by the fact that we are sexual health providers and hence may not reflect transmission in the wider population.”
She added: “It is possible that at various stages of the infection monkeypox may mimic common STIs, such as herpes and syphilis, in its presentation.
READ MORE: Cervical cancer symptoms: Pain in three areas could signal the disease - ‘See your GP’