Monkeypox Treatments Aren’t Getting Enough Scrutiny
US studies are essential to understand how well antivirals work and which patients need them most.
Case numbers are steadily rising.
Photographer: Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty ImagesAs monkeypox cases multiply in the US, more research is needed to assess how well existing treatments work. Unfortunately, no efforts are yet underway to conduct the kind of clinical trials that might let doctors know how much antiviral drugs improve patients’ lives.
As of this week, five commercial labs in the US are offering monkeypox tests, raising weekly capacity to 80,000 tests — a drastic improvement over the 6,000 tests per week that were possible as recently as June. This expansion in testing stands to reveal the true scope of the outbreak, which as of Monday was counted as just under 2,000 cases in the US.