It comes with serious side effects, so it is not recommended for anyone except those at greatest risk for serious illness. The virus is self-limiting, which means it resolves on its own, usually within two to four weeks.Īn antiviral medication is available for those who have monkeypox and who are at high risk for a serious case. Healthy people who are determined to have monkeypox will be asked to isolate from other people and animals until symptoms have resolved and the sores have healed. Your healthcare provider will determine if you have monkeypox or if you have been exposed. If you don't have a healthcare provider or insurance, call 211 to be connected to healthcare services. Also call your healthcare provider if you have been exposed to someone with monkeypox. If you have an unexplained rash or sores on your skin, call your healthcare provider. What should I do if I think I might have monkeypox? Some people also report headache, back pain, muscle aches, or fatigue. Symptoms include flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes, and a characteristic blister-like rash on the face and body. Because it spreads through skin-to-skin contact, droplets, and potentially other ways, it is not considered a sexually transmitted infection. Scientists are evaluating data to learn more about other ways monkeypox may spread.Ĭurrently, the virus is spreading predominantly among men who have sex with other men. Monkeypox virus also spreads during sexual contact with an infected person and may spread between people through respiratory droplets. The virus spreads through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or shared items (such as clothing, bedding, or utensils) that have been contaminated with fluids from sores of a person with monkeypox. Only recently has the virus spread to countries around the world.

It has been endemic in some African countries since then. It was discovered in monkeys in 1958 and for the first time in humans in the 1970s. It can be more serious for immune-compromised people, those who are pregnant, and children under age 8. While it is a serious health issue, it is not typically deadly or debilitating long term. Monkeypox is a virus similar to smallpox, only much less severe. And this week, the United States declared it a health emergency, which will open access to resources to help quell the spread. While much of the information I shared before is still relevant, cases in the United States are now in the thousands, rather than the hundreds. At the beginning of June, when the first cases of monkeypox were being reported in the United States, I wrote an article about the top 10 things to know.

Bennington blotter