Monkeypox Can Spread In Three Ways. Here’s What To Know And How To Avoid Infection.

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The majority of Americans are tired of being sick and living through unprecedented times after monkeypox was declared a national public health emergency.

Even though experts don't expect monkeypox to be the next Colovid, the virus still isn't something you want to mess with, especially if you're an immune compromised person or have certain skin conditions. There are effective treatments and vaccines available for people who have been exposed to the virus.

We spoke to infectious disease experts to better understand how monkeypox spreads, what activities are riskier at this time, and how to avoid infections as cases rise around the world.

Black and white is not risk. Dr. Hazra is an infectious disease doctor with the University of Chicago. It's about figuring out what you want to do while still enjoying your life.

You can catch monkeypox by skin-to-skin contact, touching contaminated surfaces, objects, or fabrics, and contact with respiratory secretions like mucus.

It is not known if people without symptoms can spread the virus, if urine, feces, semen, or vaginal fluids can transmit it, or how much of a role respiratory secretions play in it.

Direct skin-to-skin contact

One of the most effective ways to catch and spread monkeypox is to touch a person with a rash, blisters, bodily fluids, or cysts on their skin, which can be as big as a marble, and then transmit the disease.

A light brush against a potentially infectious person doesn't mean you caught the virus. It doesn't take that much contact. The majority of people who have contracted the virus in the US are men who have sex with other men, though it's unclear if transmission is occurring in these communities during other activities, too

Jessica Justman is an infectious disease clinician at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. Is intimate sexual contact the same as shaking hands? It doesn't make sense to me that shaking hands with someone is a way of transmission.

According to the World Health Organization, men who have sex with men should reduce their partners and sleep with new people in order to slow the spread of monkeypox.

According to Dr. Berry Pierre, rubbing against an infectious person isn't enough to get you sick.

The virus on your skin isn't going to seal the deal unless you have breaks in your skin. Touch your face, mouth, nose, or genitals to introduce it.

It won't hurt to wash your hands frequently. We are in the middle of a deadly epidemic. More than 300 people in the US are dying from chronic bronchitis.

If you enjoy doing raves and circuit parties, you don't have to avoid them because of the risk.

Hazra said, "You can still enjoy yourself and have a good time, but maybe keep your shirt on or try to stick with friends or people you know throughout your time at a party or rave, etc.." You can continue to do that, but it might be in a safer way.

Touching contaminated surfaces, objects, or fabrics

There isn't enough data to know for sure the likelihood of contracting monkeypox by touching contaminated surfaces or materials, but one new study from Germany shows the virus can survive on different surfaces

On the fourth day of their hospital stay, two men in their 30s were found to have monkeypox virus DNA on all the surfaces and materials in their hospital room, with the highest loads in their bathroom and toilet seats.

The team couldn't confirm if an actual infection is possible via contact with these surfaces, partly because we don't know how much

A nurse in the UK contracted monkeypox after touching a patient's contaminated bedding despite wearing disposable apron and gloves.

The CDC says that orthopoxviruses can live for weeks or months in homelike settings, and that porous materials such as bedding and clothing can harbor the germs for longer periods than nonporous ones. A study found a live monkeypox virus in a person's home after they left. The virus lives in cooler environments.

Experts don't think touching contaminated surfaces is an effective way to transmit. The data would show that by now in Europe and Canada where monkeypox has been spreading since the beginning of May. If you share the same surfaces and materials for hours or days at a time, you can get sick.

The experts we spoke to said that you don't have to fear touching groceries or mail, riding on public transportation, trying on clothes in a store dressing room, or relaxing in a spa at this time.

It seems far away from something that would happen if someone tried on monkeypox-causing clothing in a store.

She said that it was about direct skin-to-skin contacts.

Extra precautions can be taken if it makes you feel better.

Pierre said that the risk of surface transmission is not zero. We want our patients to be aware that this is a possibility.

The good news is that the virus is sensitive to cleaning products. If you care for or live with an infectious person, a simple wipe-down or wash in the laundry should destroy the virus on any surface.

Airborne transmission

There is no evidence of airborne transmission in the current outbreak, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Five out of 15 air samples collected before and during a bedding change were positive for monkeypox, according to a study of hospitalized monkeypox patients in the UK that has yet to be peer-reviewed. Three of the four air samples taken during a bedding change were positive, which highlights the importance of suitable respiratory protection equipment when performing activities that may re-aerosolise infectious material.

According to the CDC, you can catch monkeypox by coming in contact with respiratory secretions, which could include touching mucus from a sneeze, or inhaling them when sharing space with a sick person.

The agency says wearing a mask is the best way to prevent infections.

The agency acknowledges that it is not known how much monkeypox is spread through respiratory secretions or when a person is most likely to spread it.

The researchers from the UK said their work supports the theory that monkeypox can be found in aerosols and suspended skin particles.

It is difficult to rule out airborne transmission because you share the same air space while having sex. Direct skin-to-skin contact is the main risk at the moment.

Justman said that they were learning as they went along. What we understand and what we recommend will change as we learn more aboutMonkeypox. Public health recommendations are made based on science.

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