Two children have been recently diagnosed with monkeypox – one in California, and another in Washington DC. Investigators believe they caught it through household transmission.
Monkeypox is found in large numbers in parts of Africa, but this year more than 15,000 cases have been found in countries that typically don’t have the disease. In the US and Europe, most of the cases are in men who have sex with men, although the CDC stresses that anyone can contract the virus.
There have been more than 2,800 US cases so far, and at least eight are women.
Although the virus is spreading mostly among gay men, the CDC’s Jennifer McQuiston told reporters that the virus can spread through intimate personal contact, via towels and bedding, making it more likely to spread in homes, where people share bathrooms and beds.
In Europe, at least six cases of monkeypox have been reported in children under 17-years-old.
Monkeypox in children is common in Africa, and doctors have reported severe cases and even deaths.
Officials say that older adults who were vaccinated against smallpox when they were children may have some protection against the monkeypox virus, which is related to smallpox. Smallpox vaccines were discontinued 40 years ago when the disease was under control.
Experts disagree on the future of this virus, but some fear that it is becoming so widespread that it is on the verge of becoming an entrenched Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), similar to like gonorrhea, herpes and HIV.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the government’s response is growing stronger every day and vaccine supplies will soon meet demand.