Some people who have recently contracted sexually transmitted diseases may also get monkeypox, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning physicians that they need to be seen and tested for both because monkeypox can look like an STD. .
CDC director Rochelle Valensky said some patients with monkeypox also had syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea or chlamydia infections. Valensky said the rash characteristic of monkeypox can be similar to shingles or syphilis.
“It is important to know that cases of monkeypox can resemble some sexually transmitted infections and may be mistaken for other diagnoses,” Valensky told reporters on Friday. He added that patients who have symptoms should be evaluated for all sexually transmitted infections as well as monkeypox.
“Health care providers should not rule out monkeypox just because a patient has another diagnosis or another STI,” Valensky told reporters.
According to the CDC, the US has 45 confirmed monkeypox cases in 15 states and Washington DC as of Thursday. No death has been reported. The current outbreak is unusual because the virus has been spreading outside West and Central Africa, where the disease has been present for decades. According to the CDC, more than 1,300 cases have been reported globally in 31 countries.
Manipox usually begins with flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, tiredness and swollen lymph nodes. The disease then turns into a painful rash that can spread throughout the body. According to the CDC, most patients recover in two to four weeks without specific medical treatment.
However, during the current outbreak some patients have only developed a rash on the genitals or anus before experiencing any flu-like symptoms, Valensky said. In some cases, patients developed a rash without flu-like symptoms, she said. The CDC director said that in many cases, the localized rash has not spread to other parts of the body or just to certain areas.
Valensky said people with moneypox have reported close physical contact with others infected with the virus during the current outbreak. The virus can be spread through direct contact with wounds, bodily fluids, or material such as clothing or sheets.
Valensky said it’s not clear whether the virus can spread through semen or vaginal fluid like a sexually transmitted disease. The CDC also does not know whether the virus can be spread from people who are infected but have no symptoms or mild symptoms.
According to Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, a CDC official, at least 75% of monkeypox patients in the US have reported being exposed to the virus during international travel. According to the CDC, the vast majority of cases have been reported with men having sex.
McQuiston said some patients are unsure how they caught monkeypox, which suggests the virus may have spread at low levels in the US. However, the CDC has not identified any cities or regions in the US where there is an outbreak, she said.
“These are occasional, rare cases that aren’t sure how they got the monkeys,” McQuiston said. “In all likelihood, they got it from someone who recently traveled but they are not sure,” she said.
Montreal, Canada’s third largest city, has reported the outbreak, McQuiston said. Montreal is located across the border from New York State and New England.
Valensky said monkeypox can also be spread through respiratory droplets when people have close, continuous face-to-face contact. Valensky said the virus is not thought to be transmitted through casual conversations such as living in the air or short periods of shared airspace, such as at a grocery store. Even monkeypox is not spread by touching a single object such as a doorknob, she said.
According to Dr. Raj Punjabi, who heads the White House Epidemic Preparedness Office, there has been no reported airborne transmission of mockpox. The difference is that respiratory droplets fall to the ground quickly, while aerosol particles are much smaller that can remain in the air for a long time, Punjabi said. For example, COVID-19 spreads through aerosol particles, which is one of the reasons it is so contagious.
According to Punjabi, the federal government has distributed 1,400 vaccine courses and 110 antiviral treatments for people at high risk or with monkeypox infection. The US has so far conducted 300 tests for orthopox, the family of viruses that includes monkeypox. When people test positive for orthopox, they are considered to have monkeypox until the CDC in Atlanta confirms the diagnosis.
“We are working to further facilitate testing through public health laboratories and expand testing beyond public health laboratories through commercial partners,” Punjabi told reporters on the call on Friday.
According to Don O’Connell, who leads the Office of Health and Human Services responsible for the inventory, the US currently has 72,000 doses of the vaccine, a smallpox vaccine also approved to fight monkeypox. which is immediately available in the strategic national stockpile. Manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is also shipping another 300,000 doses to the US, O’Connell told reporters.
Jynneos is a two-dose vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent monkeypox in people 18 years of age and older. The US has more than 100 million doses of the older generation smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000, which can also prevent infection with monkeypox. Smallpox and monkeypox are in the same virus family, although moneypox is much milder.
The CDC generally recommends Jynneos over the ACAM2000, because the latter vaccine can have serious side effects. McQuiston said the U.S. currently doesn’t have enough genose doses in the supply chain to vaccinate everyone in the U.S. in the event of a public health emergency. As a result of this, Genios vaccine is being given only to those people who will benefit the most, he said. He added that ACAM2000 has a role in vaccinating people who are not at risk of side effects from the vaccine, to help maintain an adequate supply of Jynneos for those who need it.
