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Title: Schools, colleges keeping an eye on monkeypox cases
200000048 – World Newser
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Schools, colleges keeping an eye on monkeypox cases
(WTNH) – Monkeypox cases are on the decline in Connecticut with just two adult cases this week. But some school systems in other states are seeing cases as kids return to school.
No children have been diagnosed with monkeypox in Connecticut, but school and health experts are still on the lookout.
A Department of Public Health spokesperson says that the state has been working with school systems and higher education providers on monkeypox prevention guidance.
Some children and teachers are being diagnosed in other parts of the country, but the numbers still remain low and so does the risk of contracting it in a place like a classroom.
Lia Schmitt of West Hartford is not afraid to send her boys back to school.
“I’m not incredibly concerned, to be honest. I trust that the school system is doing what it needs to be doing, everything it needs to do to make sure that everybody’s taken care of and I’m just kind of following their lead,” Schmitt said.
School officials, nurses, and doctors are all being educated on the telltale signs of monkeypox, like bumps or a rash.
Yale Pediatric Infectious Diseases doctor, Thomas Murray says, “Monkeypox is far less contagious than COVID-19 and people and kids are very unlikely to contract it through casual contact with a contaminated surface or an infected person.”
Dr. Murray said there has been a handful of pediatric cases in the U.S., but all of the cases tend to have some sort of risk and are associated with exposure to someone who had monkeypox.
School systems in California, Texas, and Georgia have had monkeypox cases. An employee at a Georgia elementary school, high school students in both Texas and California, and someone unidentified at another Texas high school. Contact tracing and cleaning are being done.
A larger concern is monkeypox spreading on college campuses where close contact and a lack of cleanliness are more common. Still, vigilance with younger children is important.
“There’s some evidence from outbreaks previously in other countries that children under 8 are at increased risk of having larger numbers of pox or larger numbers of scabs,” Dr. Murray said.
Dr. Murray says the U.S. has the advantage of therapies available to kids if they’re needed like the drug TPOXX, an investigational antiviral drug used in some children with monkeypox.
“And it has shown some effect to reduce the severity of disease,” Dr. Murray said.
Dr. Murray says that monkeypox requires prolonged close contact, usually with active lesions on the skin, or scabs. If a child is in a high-risk monkeypox exposure situation, Dr. Murray says the vaccine is available to children to help prevent monkeypox.
The message now for parents and school employees is to be on the lookout. The CDC says there is no need for widespread vaccinations for school children or staff at this time.
‘News of the Day’ content, as reported by public domain newswires.
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