Questions about monkeypox? Public health experts provide answers

The outbreak had reported more than 10,300 cases nationwide as of Wednesday, since the first monkeypox case was discovered in the United States in mid-May. I'm here.

Due to changing circumstances, the Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency last week.

Many questions have been raised in the last two and a half months about how the disease spreads, how it is treated, and what vaccines can prevent infection. I was.

An expert spoke to his ABC News about the main ways it spreads, why most patients don't need treatment, and what you can do to protect yourself.

How is monkeypox spread?

In the current outbreak, monkeypox spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact with monkeypox patients or through rashes, lesions, scabs, or spread through contact with the body. fluid.

Monkeypox can be spread through intimate sexual contact, but there is no evidence that it is a sexually transmitted disease, as many cases have occurred during this outbreak.

It can also be spread through prolonged contact with objects or fabrics touched or used by monkeypox patients (clothing, bed sheets, towels, etc.), but at a lower risk .

Dr Gabriela Andujar Vázquez, an infectious disease doctor at Tufts Medical Center in Boston and an epidemiologist at the hospital, told ABC News that people often walk past positive patients or use shared public spaces such as swimming pools. A person is much less likely to catch monkeypox by being exposed to it, he said.compared to skin-to-skin contact, in gyms, restrooms, or on public transport.

"We do not believe that shared bathrooms, changing rooms, or anything shared in public or even within the home is a major transmission channel," he said. she said. "It's really direct contact with an infectious person."

This differs fromthe previous monkeypox epidemic in 2003. This has been associated with contact with a pet prairie dog that became infected after being kept near small mammals in Ghana.

Dr. Jessica Justman, associate professor of epidemiological medicine at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, emphasized that this situation could change.

“I think we have learned with COVID that things can change, especially with public health dealing with an outbreak. We just need to be prepared to change, as we get more information," Justman told ABC News. "And COVID was a brand new virus.

She added, "But the current outbreak has many features that distinguish it from previous outbreaks."

Signs and Symptoms

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The most common symptoms are arm, leg, chest, A rash that can appear on or near the face or genitals.

Lesions begin as black patches on the skin before progressing to fluid and/or pus-filled bumps.

Finally, the lesions scab and eventually slough off. A person may be left with scars and skin discoloration, but health officials say once the scabs are gone and a new layer of skin forms, the person is no longer infected. }