AHN doc on monkeypox: Don't panic, just be aware

As the number of U.S. monkeypox cases passed over 7,000, the outbreak, declared an emergency earlier this week, evoked the ongoing covid pandemic.

Monkeypox should have the feel of — “here we go,” said Dr. Brian Lamb, an Allegheny Health Network physician.

“But it’s not the again like we had with covid” Lamb said. The Pittsburgh healthcare provider oversees AHN Grove City hospital in Mercer County.

A top concern is whether monkeypox has the same mortality rate of covid.

Those catching covid had a a 1.2% rate of dying in the U.S., Lamb said.

“Monkeypox is way, way below that,” Lamb said. “And so far I haven’t heard or seen of any monkeypox deaths in America. and monkeypox is much harder to get than covid,” he said.

Pennsylvania has 192 monkeypox cases and Ohio 38, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on its website.

The AHN system has treated a couple of monkeypox patients but none have been serious, Lamb added.

To contract monkeypox, you have to come into close personal contact — such as skin-to-skin or exchange body fluids like saliva or a monkeypox rash — with an infected person, CDC said.

It can spread by objects or fabrics, such as clothing, bedding and towels, that have been used by someone with monkeypox.

And it’s possible if someone is within a few feet of an infected person and breathe in the virus released when they cough or sneeze, the CDC said.

Here’s were the disease takes an unsightly turn. Among possible monkeypox symptoms include a rash that develops into a hard, round fluid- or pus-filled skin lesions resembling cuts or scratches. Anyone with oozing cuts and scrapes is still contagious.

“Not everyone is getting that many lesions,” Lamb said. “Some are reporting one or two lesions, ” he said.

Other symptoms include sore throat, fatigue, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes.

“You tend to feel like you’re coming down with something,” he said.

Another downside to monkeypox is it can take two to four weeks to run its course.

Tests are available to determine if someone has the disease with results in within a couple of days.

“There are no rapid tests or home tests kits yet,” Lamb said.

Medication is available, but generally it’s reserved for people with other health issues such as cancer or AIDS.

“I know all of this sounds scary,” he said. “But there’s no need to panic — just be aware.”