Should I be worried about monkeypox? Is there anything I can do to protect my child?
The likelihood of children becoming infected with monkeypox is very low. So far in the US, children have constituted < 0.1% of all cases. Monkeypox is a viral infection that is spreading person-to-person through intimate contact. Educating patients about the course of the illness empowers them to be mindful of the signs, while avoiding panic.
Typically there is a prodrome, or a few days where a patient will develop fever, flu-like symptoms and lymph node swelling, and then go on to develop a rash 1-4 days later. The rash starts out as flat and then evolves into red bumps that then develop fluid. The fluid first appears clear, then cloudy. The spots eventually crust over after 2-4 weeks of healing. The distribution typically starts around the face and mouth, and then spreads to the arms and legs and may include the palms and soles.
There is currently no approved vaccine for the prevention of monkeypox in children at this time. This summer, I have been trying to allay fears in my patient’s parents that if you are seeing a rash on your child, the likelihood of it being monkeypox is extremely low.
