How can one protect themselves from Monkeypox and prevent transmission?

• Aniya Faulcon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 CDC via AP, File

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative stage.

Airdate: August 8, 2022

January 2020 was the last time the United States declared a public health emergency and that was for Covid-19.

Now there’s a new virus on the scene, Monkeypox, that has caused the United States to have the largest outbreak in the world.

At the end of last month, the Biden Administration declared Monkeypox to be a public health emergency, as there are more than 6,600 confirmed cases of Monkeypox in 48 states as of June 28th, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. John Goldman, Infectious Disease Specialist with UPMC Harrisburg, said because the disease can only spread through skin to skin contact of a lesion or its fluid, the disease spreads much slower than COVID-19.

“I expect that we’re going to see more cases in the United States, we’re going to see more cases in central Pennsylvania, but we’re not going to see anything like what we saw with COVID-19.” Goldman said. “We’re not going to have to mask in public, go to remote learning, have colleges shut down their classrooms. It’s a totally different level of transmission. There are just simply fewer cases.”

Most Monkeypox cases have been transmitted through sexual activity and predominantly among the gay and bisexual men community.

Some of the symptoms for the disease are:

• Fever
• Chills
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Exhaustion
• Muscle aches and backache
• Headache
• Respiratory symptoms
• Rash and lesions

The infection typically lasts about two weeks but Goldman suggests that people self isolate until the Monkeypox lesion scabs fall off and a new layer of skin is developed.

There are medications and vaccines available for Monkeypox. Goldman recommends people who have tested positive for Monkeypox drink a lot of fluids, take Tylenol, and self isolate so that the disease is not transmitted to someone else.

But first, if you are experiencing symptoms of the disease, before self diagnosing or attempting to treat yourself, call your doctor for further instructions.