“The main risk to humans related to viruses remains Covid,” said Dr. rasmussen. “The good news is that many of the same measures that reduce your risk of Covid – social distancing, wearing masks in public areas, practicing good hand hygiene and surface disinfection – will also reduce your risk of contracting monkeypox.”
What is the treatment for monkey pox?
If you do get sick, monkeypox treatment generally involves symptom management. However, there is one antiviral drug, called tecovirimat or TPOXX, that can be used occasionally for severe monkeypox.
There is also a vaccine, called Jynneos, that the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2019, for people 18 years and older, which protects against smallpox and monkeypox. Health officials stopped routinely vaccinating Americans against smallpox in 1972, when the disease was eradicated in the United States. But on June 28, federal health officials announced that states could withdraw doses of Jynneos from national stockpiles and begin offering the vaccine to anyone who may have been exposed to the virus†
The vaccine can work both before and after monkeypox exposure. If someone who has been in close contact with a known case gets the first dose of monkeypox vaccine right away, it can help reduce symptoms of the disease. According to the CDC, the first dose should ideally be taken within four days, but can be taken up to two weeks after an exposure has occurred. (Vaccination requires a total of two doses, with the second dose taken four weeks after the first).
If you have a new rash or are concerned about monkey pox, the CDC urges people to contact their healthcare provider. The agency has asked doctors aware for signs of the telltale rash, and recommends that men who may have been exposed to monkeypox get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“It’s really hard to put together a timeline of when this will be curtailed, or how easy it will be,” said Dr. rasmussen. “But we have the pharmacological tools, along with the classic isolation and quarantine procedures that have helped contain monkeypox outbreaks in the past. We can control it again. The key will be to identify all cases.”
Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst†
Daniel Blum reporting contributed.