Texas: Toddler in Harris County Believed to Be the First Pediatric Case of Monkeypox in Lone Star State
Texas is keeping a wary eye on the potential spread of the monkeypox virus, as a toddler from Harris County was believed to have contracted the disease. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

The monkeypox outbreak has been stirring headlines in the past few weeks.

With the World Health Organization (WHO) finally declaring the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency, the United States, among other countries, has ramped up its efforts in combatting misinformation and disinformation about the virus.

Recently, experts have explained how the virus is transmitted from person to person - but it seems like there is a high chance that it could also infect others through objects.

What Is Monkeypox?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus, part of the same family as the variola virus, the culprit behind smallpox.

Despite its very visible effects on humans, monkeypox is rarely fatal, with a 3%-6% ratio.

The monkeypox virus was solely concentrated on the African continent before the outbreak, but health officials announced that the first cluster of cases came in the United Kingdom after someone from Nigeria brought it to the country. Since then, monkeypox transmission in Europe has spread fast.

How Is Monkeypox Transmitted?

The World Health Organization reports that monkeypox could be transmitted in various ways.

Mainly, monkeypox spreads to humans via close contact with an infected person or animal or from any material contaminated with the virus.

More so, the virus could be trasmitted directly from one person to the next through direct contact with the infector's lesions, scabs, body fluids, and even respiratory droplets.

People could get infected with the virus, particularly during intimate contact. This includes anal, oral, vaginal, and even touching the infected person's reproductive organs.

Massage, hugging, kissing, and even prolonged face-to-face contact could also spread the virus.

But among these, the monkeypox virus could also spread through clothes.

Can Monkeypox Spread Through Clothes, Linens?

The days of fitting room escapades might be over as the monkeypox virus could be transmitted through clothes, a Kentucky immunologist reveals.

Since people could get infected through the scabs, bodily fluids, and lesions of a person's monkeypox, it is logical that it could be transmitted independently.

"The act of putting clothes on and removing them can scrape the skin. So, if someone with active monkeypox lesions tries on clothes and then someone else tries them afterward, there is a chance they can contract monkeypox," University of Kentucky College of Medicine Dr. Ilhem Messaoudi Powers told KVUE ABC.

Not only in clothing, the virus could also spread through linens, bedding sheets in hotels, and even towels.

However, Dr. Messaoudi said it is currently difficult to determine how long the virus stays on the infected fabric, so cleaning it thoroughly should be the next step.

The WHO has corroborated the information and confirmed that the monkeypox virus could spread through the following materials,

The CDC said that experts and scientists are still studying if the virus could be transmitted from asymptomatic patients, excretory fluids, and even the infection rate on respiratory excretions.

For more factual information about the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, visit WHO and CDC's official websites.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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