Characteristics of Inpatient Admission for Mpox Infection Control Isolation at 2 Large New York City Health Systems,2022-2023

Abstract

We investigated the proportion of mpox hospitalizations for medical indications versus infection control isolation at New York University Langone Health and NYC Health + Hospitals from May 1, 2022, through April 28, 2023. We reviewed the electronic medical records of people with a positive mpox nucleic acid amplification test independently. We collected demographic and clinical data on those who met our inclusion criteria, and we stratified patients by medical indication or infection control isolation based on their reason for hospitalization. This observational cohort study included 66 patients admitted for mpox, of whom 8 (12.1%) were admitted primarily for infection control isolation and 58 (87.9%) were admitted primarily for medical indications. Those hospitalized primarily for isolation (vs medical indications) were significantly less likely to have a private residence (25.0% vs 79.3%; P < .001). Those hospitalized for medical indications (vs isolation) were significantly more likely to be HIV positive (63.8% vs 12.5%; P = .006), to have secondary bacterial infections (65.5% vs 25.0%; P = .03), and to receive antibiotics (81.0% vs 25.0%; P < .001). We found no significant differences in the median cumulative length of stay per patient or the proportion of tecovirimat receipt between the 2 groups. While the small size of the isolation cohort was a limitation of this analysis, our findings argue for increased capacity for community-based isolation, which may reduce the use of hospital admissions primarily for infection control isolation in future outbreaks.