Is there a risk of catching monkeypox at the gym or swimming pool?

Recognized as a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox has evolved from a viral zoonosis (transmitted to humans by animals) limited to a few countries in Africa to a human-transmissible disease. and already available in many countries in Europe and America.

It is a disease transmitted by the virus, with symptoms similar to common smallpox, although clinically less severe. monkey flower spread to different parts of the world. In this scenario, Brazil reached 3,788 cases on Sunday 21, ranking third among the countries with the most confirmed patients, behind only Spain with 5,792 and the United States with 14,594.

If the international state of emergency declared by WHO still does not mean restrictive measures like those taken during covid-19, some action needs to be prioritized. break the chain of transmission.

What is the risk of being infected with monkeypox?

Although experts around the world are trying to find out exactly how the virus is transmitted, it is already known that the majority (94%) of the cases in the epidemic that started in May were among men who had sex or close contact with other men. . . . This makes it an “extremely low” risk of contracting the virus outside of a sexual context. from the inside.

However, this does not mean that monkeypox is an STD. (sexually transmitted disease). Anyone, including children, and even anyone from the placenta to the fetus can get the virus. The disease spreads through bodily fluids: sweat, saliva, pus, close speech, or surfaces such as towels and sheets from virus-specific skin lesions.

Is it possible to get monkey pox from swimming pools and gyms?

According to experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox virus is not transmitted by waterespecially if treated with sufficient levels of chlorine making it “unlikely” to spread in swimming pools. However, sharing towels or clothes by the pool is strongly discouraged.

talk to the website swanswanJessica Justman, Professor of Medicine at the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia, USA, also considers the transmission of the monkeypox virus from gyms as a “possibility”.

Although the microorganism can be transmitted through bodily fluids such as sweat, most fitness equipment is not very porous. makes it easy to clean With the cleaning practices that have become standard after Covid-19.