Los Angeles County Public Health reported that a resident died from monkeypox, becoming one of the first confirmed fatalities from the virus in the U.S.
County health officials said the person was immunocompromised and had been hospitalized.
Officials in L.A. County said the case was the first confirmed monkeypox fatality confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In August, officials in Texas said a Houston-area resident died from monkeypox. That person, officials said, also was immunocompromised.
To date, there have been 21,985 cases of monkeypox reported in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In most cases, monkeypox is painful but not life-threatening.
Typical symptoms of monkeypox include a rash, fever, malaise, headache, and muscle aches.
While most cases are mild, the CDC recommends monkeypox vaccinations for the following groups:
- People who have been identified by public health officials as a contact of someone with monkeypox
- People who know one of their sexual partners in the past 2 weeks has been diagnosed with monkeypox
- People who had multiple sexual partners in the past 2 weeks in an area with known monkeypox