Infectious disease and public health specialists have sounded the alarm as cases of monkeypox have spread across Europe and the United States. Monkeypox is a member of the orthopox virus family, related to the smallpox virus, which was eradicated by vaccination in 1980.
Here, infectious disease specialist Sandro Cinti, MD, answers some basic questions about monkeypox and how to protect yourself.
How is monkeypox spread?
Cinti: Monkeypox doesn’t spread like the flu or COVID, it spreads through close personal contact, including during sexual encounters. At the moment, it has been spreading mainly between men who have sex with men, but it can also spread between family members who are in close contact, although not very efficiently.
This is not an extremely communicable disease; nowhere near the level of COVID or influenza. Contact generally requires more than three hours of exposure within six feet, and usually direct contact with lesions rather than respiratory droplets. It can also be spread through clothing and contaminated clothing.
The World Health Organization currently says this does not constitute a global public health emergency and it has not spread widely within the community. If there start to be more cases spreading in a different way, including droplet transmission, I think the WHO might consider it an emergency again.
How would you recognize if you had monkeypox?
Cinti: The lesions are not subtle and are larger than chickenpox (see link to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for images). They can be on the face, hands, and trunk (abdomen). For the first time, we are seeing sexually transmitted diseases, so the lesions can also be in the genital or perianal area. People who have these lesions should avoid sexual contact.
People may also experience fever, chills, and swollen lymph nodes. Sometimes that happens before the rash appears. However, in this outbreak, those symptoms have been less frequent.
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Some doctors may not recognize the lesions, which can sometimes look like a pimple, skin ulcer, or papule, sometimes with an indentation in the center. Any unusual skin lesions should be investigated.
How widespread is this current outbreak?
Cinti: This outbreak is so far relatively small at more than 7,594 cases worldwide and more than 700 cases in the US It is notable because it is being transmitted outside of West Africa, where it is endemic and spreading between people in other countries in people without contact with West Africa.
What is the best way to protect yourself from monkeypox?
Cinti: Have protected sexual contact and avoid touching someone with skin lesions. If someone has been infected, they should contact their public health department to determine how to reduce the risk of transmission.
A person with a monkeypox infection should wear a mask and avoid close contact with other people until the skin lesions are completely healed, which can take up to two weeks. It is a long course for people who get infected. I want to emphasize that the risk to the public is very low. Most cases have been transmitted through sexual contact.
If you have been exposed to monkeypox (a close family member or sexual partner), contact your doctor or public health.
Are there treatments for monkeypox?
Cinti: There are antiviral therapies for people with severe cases. Monkeypox will resolve without any treatment. Very few people have been hospitalized and no one has died, which is good news, and a vaccine is available, but most people don’t qualify for it.
However, if someone has had a significant exposure, there is the possibility of receiving the vaccine to prevent the disease. That said, the general population does not need vaccination.
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Source: healthblog.uofmhealth.org