The first two cases of monkeypox in U.S. children have been confirmed as part of a record outbreak of more than 2,800 infections nationwide, a top health official said.
The pediatric cases, in an infant and a toddler, are likely the result of household transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disclosed the cases in a Washington Post Live interview.
CDC and public health authorities are still investigating how the children became infected. The two cases are unrelated and in different jurisdictions, the agency said in a statement. The toddler is in California, it said; the infant’s case was confirmed while his family was traveling in the United States, but they are not residents of this country.
“While both children have monkeypox symptoms, they are in good health,” and receiving an antiviral treatment for the disease, the CDC said.
Officials emphasize that the pathogen can affect anyone who has close contact with people who have monkeypox, including children.
Monkeypox spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, which – in the case of children – could include holding, cuddling, feeding, as well as through shared items such as towels, bedding, cups, and utensils. Health officials say respiratory spread is also possible, but usually over prolonged periods of time, such as when a person lives in the same home as an infected person.
The rapid spread of monkeypox in the United States and other countries where it is not endemic, including the United Kingdom, Portugal and the Netherlands, has alarmed public health officials.
Walensky has said the agency expects cases to continue to climb through August as a result of a testing scale-up and greater awareness and outreach to clinicians.
In most cases, monkeypox symptoms disappear on their own within a few weeks. But for children, those who are pregnant and people with weak immune systems, the disease can lead to medical complications, including death, according to WHO.
In the United States, health officials have made a limited supply of monkeypox vaccines available to prevent infections, or reduce the severity of disease after exposure. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services says the nation will have 7 million doses by the middle of next year as additional shipments arrive.
The antiviral medication TPoxx is also available to treat people with severe cases, although patients and doctors complain it has been difficult to access because of an onerous process required by the federal government.
(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Lena H. Sun, Fenit Nirappil
Left out is the detail that both of these children have family members that are the crazies that the woke community supports.
The parents who took them to the doctor to give them the covid shot should be arrested for trying to murder their own children.
You are as mentally ill as the people getting the Monkey Pox only a different sickness
Anybody in your family got MonkeyPox? After how many shots?