Universities and colleges across the U.S. are bracing for a potential outbreak of monkeypox this fall as students begin to return to campus, marking another public health challenge for schools to manage after years of grappling with Covid-19.
The universities are bracing for an outbreak of the disease.
Ina Park, a professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, told Forbes that while monkeypox poses a risk to students, the risk is different from that posed by Covid-19.
The main issue is that students live together in close quarters and gather to socialize, including hookups where close contact like kissing, skin-to-skin contact and sex can happen, Park explained.
Many universities are in contact with local and federal health authorities to plan their responses and some schools, such as Texas A&M University, have taken part in CDC training related to the disease.
The student health services at other universities are able to carry out the specific testing needed to diagnose monkeypox.
One way to reduce the risk of students contracting the monkeypox virus is to wash desks and public toilets, as well as vaccinating students who are men or trans people who have sex with men.
Dr. Marina Klein told Forbes that evidence-based education will be important to alert people to the fact that monkeypox is transmitted through intimate contact.
Monkeypox can be spread through close physical contact as well as contact with contaminated objects. While infections are clustered among men who have sex with men, there have also been cases in women and children and experts tell Forbes there is a risk the disease could spill over into other groups. The experts stress the importance of providing accurate information about the risks of monkeypox and how it is spreading and avoiding stigmatizing the groups most affected. The American College Health Association told Forbes that campuses face a number of unique challenges when it comes to disease outbreak management, such as how to keep students out of class for two to four weeks. Guidance for campus settings is being developed.
Universities talk about monkeypox. According to Forbes, several universities are following guidance from local health departments and the CDC, but this advice does not specifically address university settings. NYU, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and the University of Michigan are just a few of the universities that have set up websites with information about the outbreak. According to Forbes, the University of Florida is promoting safe sex messaging and Texas A&M University is pushing out information on the disease via social media and flyers. As the outbreak progresses, NYU's guidance and protocols are sure to evolve, and the student health center is on high alert. The potential academic impacts and accommodations which may arise, should a student come down with monkeypox, are being considered by Cornell.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there have been 10,768 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the US. Most of the cases have been among men who identify as gay, bisexual or who have sex with men, and most of them are believed to have contracted the disease through sex. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency and a vaccine campaign is underway to target groups most at risk of the virus. Jynneos, the only vaccine licensed against monkeypox in the US, does not meet demand and U.S. officials have approved a dose-saving strategy to stretch the stockpile. Though the outbreak is limited to men who have sex with men, officials are concerned that the disease could spread more widely. Colleges have been warned that they are more likely to experience an outbreak due to the close-contact campus environment. Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Texas at Austin, Bucknell University and West Chester University have all reported monkeypox cases.
The spillover of monkeypox into populations other than men who have sex with men could happen more easily in situations where people live close to each other. Klein urged strong and sensible messaging on how to be safe when having sex, especially with casual contacts. Making vaccines easily available in safe spaces for those at risk would help stem any potential outbreak on campus.
Not everyone is worried about monkeypox.
Colleges prepare for a new public health threat.
There are new challenges for vaccine rollout because of a new monkeypox dosing strategy.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
