Severe necrotic and fatal monkeypox in HIV-infected patients

OBJECTIVE: To report a case delineating the diagnosis and management of a patient with Monkeypox complicated by underlying HIV infection and to explore related literature. METHODS: This is a case report written based on electronic medical record along with review of literature from databases such as Pubmed using keyword such as 'Monkeypox' 'HIV' 'co-infection' among others. RESULTS: This case report discusses the presentation of a Nigerian male patient who initially presented with cutaneous lesions diagnosed to be due to Mpox infection. On further investigation, he was also found to have an underlying HIV infection leading to severity of the clinical progression ultimately leading to death despite treatment thus illustrating that Co-infection with HIV can leading to weakened immune response and poorer clinical outcomes for patients with Monkeypox. However, further studies are warranted to explore the pathophysiology of the confection as well as the clinical presentation and to develop precise treatment guidelines for this unique patient group. CONCLUSION: HIV can have significant impact on the prognosis and outcome of Mpox infection, thus emphasizing the importance of early detection and tailored management to improve clinical outcomes.