PODCAST: How monkeypox spreads, when to test and why people over 42 may be protected
The smallpox vaccine provides 85% protection against infection with monkeypox, but South Africa stopped vaccinating people against smallpox in 1980, so only people of 42 and older who got vaccinated will have that protection
27 June 2022 - 08:40
byMia Malan and Danny Booysen
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The most telling symptom of monkeypox is blisters on your skin and it can take two to four weeks to recover. Most people recover without the need for treatment. The same type of lab test is used to confirm Covid and monkeypox (PCR). But where nasal swabs are taken as samples to test in the case of Covid, swabs from the blisters that form on your skin are used for monkeypox.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
PODCAST: How monkeypox spreads, when to test and why people over 42 may be protected
The smallpox vaccine provides 85% protection against infection with monkeypox, but South Africa stopped vaccinating people against smallpox in 1980, so only people of 42 and older who got vaccinated will have that protection
The most telling symptom of monkeypox is blisters on your skin and it can take two to four weeks to recover. Most people recover without the need for treatment. The same type of lab test is used to confirm Covid and monkeypox (PCR). But where nasal swabs are taken as samples to test in the case of Covid, swabs from the blisters that form on your skin are used for monkeypox.
This story was produced by the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. Sign up for the newsletter.
read more:
SA’s first monkeypox case joins 3,000 around the globe
WHO monkeypox decision angers African scientists
Meet the scientists tracking Covid’s crappy future
WHO warns ‘intense response efforts’ needed to curb monkeypox outbreak
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