EPH22 A Systematic Literature Review of the Epidemiology Associated With Human Monkeypox in Children and Adults in India

Abstract

The incidence of Monkeypox is rising in Africa and has been reported sporadically in a few western countries. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify published literature on epidemiology associated with Monkeypox virus infection in India. Using Cochrane methodology, a systematic literature review was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library (Search Period: January 1947-June 2022). Studies published in English reporting on epidemiology were included. A grey literature search was also conducted using Google Scholar platform to identify relevant studies that were not captured by the database searches. Additionally, Indian news and health ministry websites were searched to understand the incidence and prevalence of Monkeypox in India. The following search terms were used for identifying relevant literature, ‘Monkeypox’, ‘Poxviridae’, ‘Incidence’, ‘Prevalence’, ‘Epidemiology’, ‘Morbidity’, ‘Mortality’, ‘India’, and ‘Disease progression’. The literature search yielded 275 citations. After reviewing the identified citations, none of the studies reported data on the epidemiology of Monkeypox virus infection in the Indian population. Further, we did not identify any confirmed cases of Monkeypox virus being reported on the Indian health ministry or news websites. We identified a guideline published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, which also confirms our epidemiological findings. While there have been no confirmed cases of Monkeypox in India so far, there is a need for routine monitoring and surveillance.