Although well being specialists say it is not one other COVID-19, monkeypox continues to unfold within the U.S. and a number of other international locations worldwide. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the typical particular person’s threat of contracting monkeypox is low, the company has modified some pointers and issued new ones this month for individuals who could be at excessive threat of publicity to the virus. Read on to search out out extra—and to make sure your well being and the well being of others, do not miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
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To Mask or Not Against Monkeypox?
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the CDC had modified its on-line suggestions about monkeypox, then deleted that modification. At first, the company inspired vacationers who wished to guard themselves from monkeypox to “Wear a mask. Wearing a mask can help protect you from many diseases, including monkeypox.” Then it scrubbed these traces from its web site.
“CDC removed the mask recommendation from the monkeypox travel health notice because it caused confusion,” the company stated.
The CDC clarified that in international locations the place monkeypox is spreading, “household contacts and health care workers” ought to take into account carrying masks. So ought to “other people who may be in close contact with a person who has been confirmed with monkeypox.”
Experts say that monkeypox is principally unfold by shut, extended contact, though unfold by respiratory droplets has been reported. The Times identified that the CDC’s hedging on the difficulty was much like the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company took greater than a 12 months to advise that aerosol transmission of the coronavirus was attainable.
Monkeypox an infection requires “really close sustained contact,” Andrea McCollum, the CDC’s prime knowledgeable on the virus, informed the Times. “This is not a virus that was transmitted over several meters,” she stated. “That’s why we have to be really careful how to frame this.”
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CDC Issues Safer Sex Guidelines
The majority of monkeypox instances have been reported in males who’ve intercourse with males, though specialists say anybody can contract the virus, and it’s not a sexually transmitted an infection.
Nevertheless, this week the CDC revealed a web-based information on find out how to keep away from monkeypox transmission throughout intercourse. The suggestions in “Social Gatherings, Safer Sex and Monkeypox” embody:
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Have “virtual sex with no in-person contact”
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Masturbate collectively “at a distance of at least six feet, without touching each other and without touching any rash or sores”
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Have intercourse “with your clothes on or covering areas where rash or sores are present, reducing as much skin-to-skin contact as possible”
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Avoid kissing
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Limit sexual companions
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What is Monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a zoonotic (that means it jumps from animals to people) virus endemic to a number of international locations in Africa.
According to the CDC, the signs of monkeypox embody fever, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fatigue and physique aches, adopted by a rash that turns into raised bumps and blisters.
Monkeypox spreads by shut contact with an contaminated particular person, or extended contact with objects that include the virus, corresponding to bedsheets. People with monkeypox are thought of most infectious whereas they’ve a rash. The incubation interval might be seven to 14 days, the CDC says. The illness can final two to 4 weeks, and most of the people recuperate with out therapy. An individual with monkeypox might be contagious from someday earlier than they develop a rash to 21 days after signs seem.
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What If I Have Symptoms?
“Risk to the general public is low, but you should seek medical care immediately if you develop new, unexplained skin rash (lesions on any part of the body), with or without fever and chills, and avoid contact with others,” the CDC says. “If possible, call ahead before going to a healthcare facility.”
And to guard your life and the lives of others, do not go to any of those 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.
