You may have heard that both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the White House have declared mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) a public health emergency. What can you, as an individual, do to prevent mpox from spreading to yourself and your community?

Anyone, including children, can be infected with mpox when exposed. The ongoing outbreak is a public health issue everyone should be concerned about. Currently, communities most affected include gay, bisexual, and other men or transgender people who have sex with men. Black and Latino people in some areas may also have higher rates of mpox.

We all desire to feel knowledgeable, aware, and empowered to act on facts, not fear, when it comes to our health care. At myHIVteam, we want to give you the facts about mpox so you can make the best decisions for yourself and the people around you.

What Is Mpox?

Mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus with the same name. The virus is related to the smallpox virus, but the disease is much less severe and rarely causes death. Despite a similar disease name, the mpox virus is not related to varicella, the virus that causes chickenpox.

What Does an Mpox Rash Look Like?

A rash is the most distinct symptom of mpox. It can start as small raised lesions (like pimples) and progress into blisters or lesions that are filled with fluid or pus.

These lesions eventually crust over and dry up. After scabs form, they usually fall off, leaving normal skin behind. Sometimes, there can be scarring. A person with mpox can have anywhere from a few to a few thousand lesions as a part of their rash.

This current outbreak of mpox has presented differently than cases in the past. Before 2022, most mpox rashes began on the face and spread to the extremities and sometimes the trunk of the body. Now, many cases include lesions on the penis, testicles, anus, labia, and the surrounding areas. The lesions can also appear in body cavities (called mucous membranes), like the inside of the mouth, vagina, or anus.

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What About Other Symptoms?

Not everyone experiences the same mpox symptoms. Some people don’t have any symptoms besides a rash. Other people experience a few of the following symptoms either before or after the rash appears:

• Fatigue
• Headache
• Fever and chills
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Muscle aches
• Back pain
• Nasal congestion

Swollen lymph nodes, which are common in mpox, are not caused by many other, similar rashes. Be sure to mention whether your lymph nodes are swollen when talking to your doctor, as it may give them a clue that you have mpox.

How Does Mpox Spread?

In the past, humans typically acquired mpox when they were touched or bitten by animals (often rodents or monkeys) with the disease or if they ate the undercooked meat of, or used products from, infected animals.

In the current outbreak, mpox is spreading mostly through skin-to-skin contact with the rash of other humans who have mpox. The virus can also be spread from human to human through respiratory secretions, including sneezing, coughing, or being face-to-face with a person who is infected. Less commonly, mpox can be spread through surfaces alone — including through materials involved in sex if a person who has mpox used them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that “bedding, towels, fetish gear, and sex toys” that have not been disinfected can spread mpox.

Mpox is not a sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the traditional sense that is used to describe infections like syphilis or chlamydia. However, because having sex with another person can involve a lot of skin-to-skin and face-to-face contact, sexual experiences have been the main way mpox has been spreading lately. This includes the following types of sex and other intimate encounters:

• Oral sex
• Vaginal sex
• Anal sex
• Kissing
• Massages
• Cuddling or hugging
• Any touching of the vagina, penis, labia, testicles, or anus

Keep in mind, the type of contact that can spread mpox does not have to be sexual or intimate.

Who Is at Risk of Getting Mpox?

Anyone of any age, race, gender, or sexual identity can be infected with mpox. So everyone needs to understand the basic facts about this illness during the outbreak.

Data collected by the CDC shows the communities most affected right now include gay, bisexual, and other men or transgender people who have sex with men. Infection rates among Latino and Black people may be higher in some areas as well. Health care workers who might come in contact with people who are infected may also be at higher risk. Public health resources, like testing and vaccines, may be appropriately distributed with the highest priority to the groups of people who are currently at the greatest risk of catching the disease.

Even if you do not fit into any of those categories, you should be aware that any situationwhere you may have close bodily contact with strangers (like parties, dances, or music festivals) may put you at higher risk for getting infected with mpox. The communities most affected by mpox may change in the future.

How Is Mpox Diagnosed?

The preferred way to diagnose mpox is for a health care worker to swab any suspicious skin lesions and then run that swab through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to look for mpox genetic material (DNA). Mpox may also be diagnosed by growing the virus in a culture or through another genetic test called next-generation sequencing. Sometimes, a blood test showing antibodies against mpox can help make the diagnosis, but a blood test is not required to confirm mpox.

Depending on the medical resources available in your area, it might be difficult to confirm if you have mpox through proper testing. The CDC and other medical organizations have developed definitions to help doctors understand what cases are most likely to be mpox even without access to testing.

Suspected Cases

Understanding what doctors view as a suspected case of mpox may help you decide if you or someone you know should isolate, seek testing, or get vaccinated. Suspected cases are people who have a new rash that looks like mpox and have experienced any of the following in the 21 days before the rash started:

• Encounters with anyone who has likely or confirmed mpox or who also has a rash that looks like mpox
• Close social, sexual, or intimate experiences with people in groups known to be currently affected by mpox, like men who have sex with men
• Travel to another country where mpox has been diagnosed
• Contact with any animal or animal product from a species known to harbor mpox

As the mpox rash changes over time, it can be easy to confuse it with other skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, or even insect bites. If you’re unsure about the cause of your rash, it’s best to ask your doctor to evaluate it in person, if possible.

What Should You Do if You Get Mpox?

If you think you might have the rash or other symptoms of mpox, contact a medical provider or your regular doctor. The CDC recommends you remind your doctor that mpox is currently present in the U.S. Not all doctors will be equally familiar with the outbreak.

Until you’re able to be evaluated and see your test results, it’s important to isolate to prevent physical contact with other people and animals. Try your best to only leave your home to seek medical care. Wear a face mask, cover up your rash to prevent accidental spread, and don’t take public transportation.

If your health care provider confirms you have mpox through testing, or if testing is unavailable but the provider thinks mpox is likely, you’ll want to discuss with them how to best manage both your rash and your pain until the illness resolves.

Manage Your Rash

The first rule for managing your rash is not to scratch or touch it. Popping or lancing the lesions will not allow them to heal any quicker and may cause more harm. Touching or scratching your rash may result in the following:

• A transfer of the rash to other people or other parts of your body
• Possible long-lasting scars
• Secondary bacterial infections

You especially should not touch your anus, mouth, eyes, vagina, or nose after touching your rash to avoid potentially painful lesions in those areas. Be sure to wash your hands with soap and water if you do mistakenly touch the rash.

Do not shave any areas affected by the rash to prevent the lesions from worsening or multiplying. You can use bandages found at a pharmacy or gauze from the doctor’s office to cover the lesions and help prevent spreading. Try disposable or reusable gloves to cover lesions on your hands.

Manage Your Pain

Mpox can be extremely painful, depending on where the lesions appear. Make sure your doctor addresses pain when they diagnose you. Make a plan with them for what to do if your pain increases in the coming days or weeks. Most doctors will have you start with over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil). However, if your pain worsens and becomes severe, don’t hesitate to call the doctor’s office again to let them know you need more help.

Besides prescription pain-relief pills, your doctor may recommend some topical treatments to manage the pain at the site of the lesions. These treatments may include soothing lotions, oatmeal baths, and lidocaine or benzocaine gels to dull the pain. Sitz baths may help with controlling the pain from lesions in and around the genitals.

Stay Isolated

Once diagnosed with mpox, the best way to keep it from spreading is to stay isolated. Avoid kissing, touching, and sexual contact with other people while you feel sick or have a rash. Also don’t share objects used for hygiene or sex, like toothbrushes or sex toys.

Continue isolation until all of the scabs or dried skin from the lesions fall off.

How Can You Protect Yourself and Prevent Mpox from Spreading?

The CDC offers three basic tips for protecting yourself from mpox:

• If someone has a rash that looks like mpox, do not touch them.
• While someone has mpox, avoid sharing any tools, utensils, or household items with them.
• Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands frequently.

If you notice you or a partner has a rash of any kind, avoid any sex or skin-to-skin contact until a medical provider can evaluate you for mpox. This is a great way to prevent possible infection and spread.

If you had recent exposure to mpox or are in a group of people that are currently at high risk, getting vaccinated is also one of the best ways to avoid the disease. If you have confirmed or probable mpox, staying isolated until your lesions are completely healed will help prevent you from spreading the virus to other people in the community.

Besides getting vaccinated and isolating, you can take other steps to protect yourself and the people around you. The CDC has a list of ways to experience activities like parties and sex while lowering your risk of mpox. Some tips include:

• Use condoms and gloves during sexual contact to help reduce exposure to mpox lesions.
• Try virtual sex or masturbation with your partner in the same room but without touching the other person.
• Wear as many clothes as possible when having sex. This can include latex and leather, as long as these pieces are disinfected before encountering another partner.
• Spend as little time kissing or face-to-face as possible because saliva and heavy breathing can spread the mpox virus.
• Consider waiting to have sex in person until two weeks after your second dose of the vaccine for mpox, when your immune system is best able to protect you from the virus.
• Choose to attend parties, concerts, and music festivals where most people are fully clothed to avoid skin-to-skin contact with strangers.

How Long Is Mpox Contagious?

Mpox is contagious from the beginning of the symptoms (including any flu-like symptoms) until new skin takes the place of the crusted-over lesions of the rash.

Is There a Treatment or Cure for Mpox?

There is no specific cure for mpox. The disease is self-limited, which means it generally goes away on its own eventually, even with no treatment.

Currently, treatment for most people with mpox is centered around relieving symptoms, like pain, or addressing complications, like bacterial infections that may arise after the viral rash.

A few people, such as those with weakened immune systems, might need treatment to fight the virus itself. In these cases, doctors may prescribe antiviral medications, although these aren’t specifically proved to treat mpox.

How Long Does Mpox Last?

The symptoms of mpox, including the rash, can last around two to four weeks.

After being exposed and infected, it can take between five and 21 days for the first symptoms to appear. This period of time between getting infected and the start of symptoms is called the incubation period.

Should You Get an Mpox Vaccine?

Generally, the CDC recommends the mpox vaccine for individuals who are more likely to get mpox or who have already been exposed to it. Mpox vaccination can help prevent the disease before someone is exposed to the virus and also in the first 14 days after exposure.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a two-dose vaccine for smallpox and mpox called Jynneos. Although there is no data available on the vaccine’s effectiveness during the current outbreak, previous studies have shown that Jynneos prevented mpox in 85 percent of people who got the two-dose course. There are no studies showing how effective the vaccine is after just one dose.

The following people should seek mpox vaccination:

• Anyone who was exposed to someone with mpox through sex or other close contact anytime in the past 14 days
• Anyone who may encounter the mpox virus at work, including laboratory workers involved with testing, certain health workers, and sex workers
• Anyone with multiple sexual partners in an area with known mpox cases and who had sex in the last 14 days
• Anyone told by a public health official that they are a contact of a person with mpox

If you fall into the above categories, the CDC recommends contacting your local health department to find out how to get vaccinated.

The most common side effects from the Jynneos vaccine are:

• Itching and redness of the skin where the vaccine was given
• Chills
• Muscle aches
• Headaches
• Tiredness
• Nausea

The mpox vaccine is in short supply right now, but that supply is increasing. Your city, county, tribal, or state health department may have a shot available for you now even if they didn’t earlier in the outbreak.

Talk With Others Who Understand

On myHIVteam, the social network for people with HIV, more than 36,000 people come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with HIV.

Have you had mpox or gotten vaccinated? What questions do you still have about mpox? Share your experience or thoughts in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.