Welcome back to Wednesday's with Dr. Haas! This is a segment where you can ask questions about your top COVID-19 health concerns and Dr. Haas, our resident health expert (and a world-renowned Infectious Disease Doctor) answers them! Today, we are sharing a side by side of COVID-19 and Monkeypox, and answering your top questions.
What are the updates with Monkeypox? Can you give us information about vaccine availability and whether we need to change our behaviors in any way to avoid having monkeypox? How are children getting Monkeypox?
As I am writing this, the numbers are increasing. Denver Health is diagnosing 2 people each day I am told and there are now over 12,000 individuals infected across the US. For Colorado, there are currently 155. These numbers will change tomorrow, of course.
How its spread: We are learning that people are presenting with Monkeypox in different ways. It was initially seen that Monkeypox was being reported among men having sex with men abroad. The cases were all being traced back to each other and were connected in that aspect. In the US, Monkeypox continues to show up in men having sex with men. People who had Monkeypox had milder cases and thus making it a bit harder to detect. Monkeypox can spread by other forms of contact, so this is important to remember. Children under the age of 8 and people who are immunocompromised are at risk for complications. There is still no national data on demographics of people getting Monkeypox. There have been a few kids who got Monkeypox in the US. I guess this might have been from close contact from a care provider.
Testing: Testing is available, but it’s very limited. Currently there is no home testing for monkeypox as there is for COVID-19 so if a person is concerned, they can talk to a provider.
Treatment: There is treatment for monkeypox and it appears to work very well
Vaccines: There is a vaccine available for Monkeypox. It is like smallpox, but better tolerated for Monkeypox. Men who have sex with men or people who have has multiple sexual partners are being prioritized for getting vaccinated.
Additional Resources: https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html
Here are some additional resources!