in

New Research Found “Substantial” Evidence That Monkeypox Transmission Occurs Prior To Symptom Onset

pucko_ns - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Ever since experiencing an international monkeypox outbreak in May of this year, there have been nearly seventy-nine thousand cases worldwide, according to the CDC.

The CDC’s most recent guideline on monkeypox isolation and prevention, which was updated on October 18, 2022, also states that the spread of infection occurs after symptom onset.

“In the current global outbreak, monkeypox has only been known to spread by people from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed,” the guideline says.

But, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal earlier this month, there was “substantial” evidence that monkeypox can be transmitted pre-symptomatically– or before symptoms are detected or appear.

Previous research on the monkeypox virus did not explicitly rule out this possibility. However, no research ever supported pre-symptomatic transmission– until now.

In fact, monkeypox transmission was detected up to four days prior to symptom onset.

The researchers also estimate that fifty-three percent of virus transmission took place during this pre-symptomatic phase.

This means that preventive efforts are ineffective if individuals are being asked to isolate after they become symptomatic.

And if these findings are corroborated by other studies, the research team believes that pre-symptomatic transmission could have drastic implications for global infection control.

pucko_ns – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.

1 of 3