The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced new findings from The Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP) trial.
The trial, sponsored by the NIH, evaluated the efficacy of tecovirimat of an mpox treatment. Patients who had been sick with mpox less than two weeks in Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and the United States, including Puerto Rico participated in the trial, according to the NIH. Investigators and most participants were randomly sorted into two groups: One receiving 14 days of tecovirimat and the other receiving placebo for 14 days. Randomized groups were unaware of which group they were in. The exception to this was children, women who were pregnant during the study, the immunosuppressed, people with severe disease, and some patients with skin conditions. Those participants received tecovirimat.
The study found little difference between mpox treatments. Additionally, “among those reporting severe pain at baseline, improvements were similar between those who received tecovirimat and placebo.”
The researchers concluded that “tecovirimat used without other antivirals did not reduce the time to clinical resolution of clade II mpox lesions or improve pain control among adults.”
