Scientists are continuing to study how Mpox is transmitted. According to a WHO spokeswoman, droplets are a “minor” route of transmission of the virus. According to the World Health Organization, Mpox is transmitted from person to person primarily through “close contact.” On his websitethe WHO explains that close contact means “skin-to-skin contact (e.g. touching or sexual intercourse) and mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-skin contact (e.g. kissing). It also includes being face-to-face with someone (talking or breathing in close proximity and thus coming into contact with infectious respiratory particles).”
“If you’re talking to someone up close, if you’re breathing on them, if you’re physically close to them, it’s possible that droplets, if you have lesions, could spread to someone else,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said at a regular press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, August 27. “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.
Wearing a mask is not necessary
According to the WHO, it is also possible for the virus to remain present for some time on clothing, linen, objects… and surfaces that have been touched by a person with the disease. A person who would touch them in turn would also be at risk of being infected 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 use. Masks are recommended for health care workers and people in contact with a sick person, Harris said. According to WHO, people with Mpox are contagious until all of their lesions have crusted over, the scabs have fallen off and a new layer of skin has formed underneath, and all lesions on the eyes and body have healed, which takes “two to four weeks.”
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 emergence of a new variant (1b) prompted WHO to trigger its highest level of alert at the international level on 14 August. WHO estimates that $135 million is needed to finance the international response to Mpox over the next six months. On Tuesday, it launched an appeal for $87.4 million to support its own activities to combat the virus.