Monkeypox: NHS offers tecovirimat for severe or complicated cases

The antiviral drug tecovirimat can be offered to symptomatic monkeypox patients who have been admitted to hospital in the UK with severe or complicated infection, chief medical officer Chris Whitty has said.In an alert to NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups, Whitty said supply of the treatment was being managed by specialist regional adult infectious disease centres.1Although tecovirimat was authorised earlier this year for use in monkeypox patients by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the European Medicines Agency, there are currently no published human trial data showing the efficacy of the drug in these patients.Currently, smallpox vaccines can be used to reduce the risk of catching monkeypox but there are no proven treatments to help recovery in those infected.Tecovirimat inhibits the viral envelope protein p37 to prevent the virus from leaving the infected cells and spreading throughout the body. Clinicians are being encouraged to recruit monkeypox patients…
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