Global Monkeypox Soar: Is It Airborne? Can Pregnant Women Pass It To Unborn Fetuses? | Top Points

Global monkeypox cases are set to touch the 800-mark and more than 30 countries have reported cases with the UK detecting more than 300 cases. The UK Health Security Agency said monkeypox would be designated as a notifiable infectious disease starting this week.

“Rapid diagnosis and reporting is the key to interrupting transmission and containing any further spread of monkeypox. This new legislation will support us and our health partners to swiftly identify, treat, and control the disease,” Wendi Shepherd, monkeypox incident director at UKHSA told the British Medicine Journal.

Can Monkeypox Be Airborne?

A New York Times report quoting experts pointed out that the monkeypox disease can also be airborne – like Covid-19.

Experts speaking to the NYT said that a 2017 outbreak of monkeypox in a Nigerian prison infected prisoners and healthcare workers who were not in touch with the person suffering from the disease.

The issue came to the fore when the US Centers Of Disease Control made an about-turn regarding wearing masks to prevent the possibility of monkeypox.

It initially recommended wearing masks and then deleted it – similar to what it did during the initial phases of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Epidemiologist & health economist Eric Feigl-Ding said that such messages ‘create confusion’ and ‘lead to mask hesitancy’.

The report also said that on occasion the monkeypox virus can be transmitted through aerosols like SARS-Cov-2.

Can Women Pass On Monkeypox To Their Fetuses?

In Congo, large scale study was conducted to study if a pregnant woman can pass the monkeypox virus on to her fetus.

At least 216 women were studied and it was found that 4 out of 5 pregnant women who suffered from monkeypox also suffered miscarriages.

Traces of the virus and viral lesions were found in the fetuses.

Myths and False Claims – Debunked

Several users of social media across the world have received a fake message which said that monkeypox is a side-effect of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The claim stems from the fact that AstraZeneca’s jab uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vector.

Experts speaking to the AFP said that it is a baseless claim since both viruses – poxvirus for monkeypox, and adenovirus for the Covid vaccine – belong to different families.

Gachon University Gil Medical Center’s infectious disease expert Professor Eom Jung-shik said that vaccines cannot generate new viruses inside humans and cause monkeypox.

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