US health experts say Mpox highly unlikely to result in school closures
Date
8/25/2024 5:15:21 AM
(MENAFN) Despite the World health Organization (WHO) recently designating mpox as a global health emergency, experts in the United States believe it is highly unlikely to result in school closures. Physicians and public health officials, including those from the US Centers for disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasize that mpox differs significantly from COVID-19 in terms of its transmission and impact.
Christina Hutson, head of the poxvirus and rabies branch at the CDC, explained that mpox is not comparable to COVID-19 because its symptoms are visible, such as lesions on the skin. Consequently, the risk of transmission is limited to direct contact with these lesions, rather than through airborne particles. This visibility makes it less likely that mpox would lead to the widespread school closures seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University, concurs, noting that the response to mpox will be very different from the measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic. He affirms that the risk of mpox prompting school shutdowns in the US is minimal. Michelle Taylor, director of the Shelby County Health Department, also pointed out that mpox is not an airborne virus and there is no current evidence suggesting it is mutating or spreading in a manner that would necessitate school closures.
On Friday, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reassured that the mpox outbreak, which has seen over 100,000 confirmed cases globally since its onset in 2022, can be controlled. He highlighted the concerning rise in cases in Africa but remained optimistic about the containment efforts.
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