With all the recent news about Monkeypox now in the U.S. (and here in Washington), you may be wondering if this is going to be another disease like Covid-19? Right now, health experts say it is not.
“Covid spreads very widely through the respiratory route. Monkeypox requires very, very close contact with somebody else for it to spread,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, an expert on infectious disease at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “So, it’s a very different disease. and it doesn’t spread nearly as efficiently as Covid.”
In this current outbreak that we’re seeing outside of Africa, those getting sick are almost exclusively men who have had sex with men. “And not just men who have sex with men, but men who have sex with multiple different partners,” Dr. Swartzberg said.
Thankfully, there is a vaccine that can protect those at risk of getting Monkeypox.
“If you get that vaccine very early after the exposure, it’s going to prevent you from getting very sick from Monkeypox,” Dr. Swartzberg said. “If you’re somebody who is at risk for getting Monkeypox, for example, having sex with multiple partners, find out from your physician if you’re a candidate for the vaccine.”
More Info:
Understanding Monkeypox and How Outbreaks Spread
