– Droplets are a ‘minor’ transmission route
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that the monkeypox virus is transmitted mainly through “close contact.”
Published today at 5:35 p.m.
An MPOX information board at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Indonesia, on August 26, 2024.
AFP
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Droplets are a “minor” route of transmission of MPOX, a WHO spokeswoman said on Tuesday, stressing that further research is needed to better understand “the transmission dynamics” of the virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mpox is transmitted from person to person mainly through “close contact.”
On its website, the WHO explains that close contact includes skin-to-skin contact (e.g., touching or sex) and mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-skin contact (e.g., kissing). It also includes being in close proximity to someone (e.g., talking or breathing in close proximity and coming into contact with infectious respiratory particles).
“If you’re talking to someone in close proximity, if you’re breathing on them, if you’re physically close to them, there’s a possibility that droplets, if you have lesions, could spread to someone else,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a regular news briefing in Geneva.
“But this is a minor source” of transmission, she insisted. In any case, she added, “further research is needed to fully understand the dynamics of transmission” of the virus.
No widespread wearing of masks
According to the WHO, it is also possible for the virus to remain present for some time on clothes, linen, objects… and surfaces that have been touched by a person with the disease.
A person who touches them in turn could also be at risk of infection if they have cuts or abrasions or if they touch their eyes, nose, mouth or other mucous membranes before washing their hands.
WHO recommends cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects, and washing hands after touching potentially contaminated surfaces or objects. However, it does not recommend widespread mask-wearing.
Wearing a mask is recommended for health care workers and people in contact with a sick person, Harris reminded.
The resurgence of MPOX in Africa, which is hitting the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hard, but also Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, and the appearance of a new variant (1b) prompted the WHO to trigger its highest level of alert at the international level on August 14.
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