According to Allegheny County’s website, there has been an increase in Mpoxs, formerly known as monkeypox. The disease causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.Allegheny County has 11 confirmed cases so far this year, 10 of those cases reported in April — compared to 2023, where there were only two cases. A significant decrease from 2022 when there were a total of 71 cases. Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician, explained the disease never went away. The two-dose vaccine did help curb cases when numbers went up in 2022.”The key thing is making sure that everybody that’s in the high-risk population has the standard two-dose regimen of the vaccine,” Adalja said. “And that’s what really puts this to an end, and that people are thinking about their behavior when, for example, Pride Week is coming up so that they don’t inadvertently spread this to other individuals.”Adalja says the contagious disease primarily was spreading between men having sex with other men. Some symptoms include rash, fever, chills, headache and more. Adalja says he does not believe there will be a major public health threat, but it could be debilitating to some who have other infections like HIV. “This is something that can be containable with the safe and effective vaccine and with behavior change and testing. But it’s something that you don’t want to be behind. You want to be proactive with,” he said. An Allegheny County spokesperson issued a statement saying, “The Health Department has been communicating with health care providers in the county about the uptick in cases and making sure they are sharing information with patients about how to get tested if they have symptoms or think they may have been exposed, and how people can get vaccinated.”If you are experiencing any symptoms, call your physician, or you can go to a walk-in public health clinic at the Blakey Center.
According to Allegheny County’s website, there has been an increase in Mpoxs, formerly known as monkeypox.
The disease causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.
Allegheny County has 11 confirmed cases so far this year, 10 of those cases reported in April — compared to 2023, where there were only two cases. A significant decrease from 2022 when there were a total of 71 cases.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician, explained the disease never went away. The two-dose vaccine did help curb cases when numbers went up in 2022.
“The key thing is making sure that everybody that’s in the high-risk population has the standard two-dose regimen of the vaccine,” Adalja said. “And that’s what really puts this to an end, and that people are thinking about their behavior when, for example, Pride Week is coming up so that they don’t inadvertently spread this to other individuals.”
Adalja says the contagious disease primarily was spreading between men having sex with other men. Some symptoms include rash, fever, chills, headache and more.
Adalja says he does not believe there will be a major public health threat, but it could be debilitating to some who have other infections like HIV.
“This is something that can be containable with the safe and effective vaccine and with behavior change and testing. But it’s something that you don’t want to be behind. You want to be proactive with,” he said.
An Allegheny County spokesperson issued a statement saying, “The Health Department has been communicating with health care providers in the county about the uptick in cases and making sure they are sharing information with patients about how to get tested if they have symptoms or think they may have been exposed, and how people can get vaccinated.”
If you are experiencing any symptoms, call your physician, or you can go to a walk-in public health clinic at the Blakey Center.
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