Proper hand washing, cleanliness important to prevent Monkeypox

• Monkeypox is a virus in between smallpox and chickenpox, and it appears  as blisters
• The disease could spread through casual contacts, including skin-to-skin and mouth-to-mouth, and through sexual contact

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

Proper hand washing and cleanliness are very important to prevent infection of the monkeypox virus, Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) Colombo, Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Deepal Perera said. He told the Daily Mirror that the above methods would be used as the basic preventive method.   “Monkeypox is a virus in between smallpox and chickenpox, and it appears as blisters, and the monkeypox or smallpox vaccine is not available in the country.  

Therefore, it is very important to maintain the basic health guidelines,” Dr. Perera said.  

“This disease could spread through casual contacts, including skin-to-skin and mouth-to-mouth, as well as through sexual contact. He also requested that people should  monitor their close contacts for up to 21 days. “If we use the same bed, towel, or bed linen used by a monkeypox-infected person, the virus could be transmitted,” he said.  
If children younger than 8 years and pregnant women are infected, it will be serious, and abortions could happen to pregnant women. Therefore, Dr. Perera requested parents not to send their children to school or any other public place if they have symptoms similar to monkeypox, like rashes and skin ulceration, with fever.