3 monkeypox cases reported in Southwest Virginia; COVID levels remain high but steady
Cases of monkeypox are slowly beginning to add up in Virginia, but the portion of the population public health officials say is most likely to transmit the virus is small, as are the number of vaccines being administered.
As of Tuesday morning there were three cases of monkeypox in the southwestern region, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s website. There were 112 statewide, including 81 in Northern Virginia.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, director of Roanoke and Allegheny health districts, could not disclose the specific localities in which those cases were detected.
“Because these are still small numbers, Virginia Department of Health is not releasing cases by district at this time,” Morrow said during a news conference Tuesday. “It’s releasing cases by region.”
Morrow said the Roanoke and Allegheny health districts have administered more than 30 monkeypox vaccines so far. Morrow encouraged people who are most at risk to monkeypox to get vaccinated.
“These are men who have sex with men, anybody who has multiple sex partners, individuals who may be commercial sex workers,” Morrow said. “Anybody who’s at increased risk of being exposed to monkeypox can certainly contact one of our health departments, and when we can add them to the list of individuals who are interested in getting monkeypox vaccine.”
Morrow stressed that monkeypox is “not readily transmissible,” and the monkeypox vaccine is not available to the general public.
“It is only available to those who are at high risk of getting exposed to monkeypox,” Morrow said. “There’s a very limited amount of monkeypox vaccine that’s available, so we’re using it only for those highest risk individuals. The number of vaccines is dependent on the needs of the locality.”
The doctor said because monkeypox is related to smallpox, the vaccines for the two viruses are very similar.
“Every vaccine has similar side effects with respect to sore arm, maybe a little bit of body aches, but we’re not seeing anything concerning at all,” Morrow said. “This is a safe, effective vaccine for the very limited group of individuals for whom it is recommended at this time.”
The virus is typically transmitted from person to person via direct physical contact, and risk of respiratory transmission is very low.
“The virus lives within the vesicles, within the lesions, of the monkeypox sore,” Morrow said. “Overwhelmingly, the transmission is direct contact with the skin of someone who has monkeypox sores. Just directly brushing against someone is extremely low risk. We’ve gotten asked a question about what about trying on clothing. There is a theoretical risk, but it would be extremely, extremely low.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a monkeypox global health emergency, but Morrow said outbreaks aren’t expected to occur in the general population.
“It is a pandemic, but we don’t expect this to be anything near COVID or a pandemic flu, for example, because of the difference in transmission,” the health district director said.
Morrow doesn’t outbreaks to occur in college spheres either, as long as students are using “common sense.”
“Certainly if someone is engaging in high risk sexual behavior, even though this is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, they are at increased risk of getting monkeypox,” Morrow said.
Cases of COVID-19 and hepatitis A in the Roanoke region continue to add up, though, with about 700 new cases of COVID-19 in the last week.
“Our weekly case count of laboratory confirmed tests is about the same as two weeks ago,” Morrow said. “Our hospitalizations are up very slightly, as are new admissions, but really no significant change. The bottom line with COVID-19 is that we continue to experience high but steady levels of COVID-19 activity.”
Morrow is hopeful that the number of COVID-19 cases will decrease in the coming weeks, “but with this virus, you really can’t predict the future very well,” she said.
Meanwhile, hepatitis A also continues to spread in the region, but not has heavily as it did earlier this year.
“We continue to get new cases reported to us. Our total case count for 2022, from January through today, is 79 cases of hepatitis A, with 58 hospitalizations,” Morrow said Tuesday. “Thankfully, we’re not seeing the high number of weekly cases that we were seeing earlier in the spring.”
Morrow said the health district is encouraging parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and keep other vaccination records up to date as the new school year approaches.
The doctor said a recently confirmed case of oral polio in New York “is a reminder for all of us that we live in a very small world.”
“This is a reminder that unvaccinated communities can face new diseases in their communities,” Morrow said. “We haven’t seen polio in the United States in a long time, and this is a stark reminder of the importance of making sure that all of our children are up to date on all of their vaccines, and back-to-school time is a perfect time to do that.”
