GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford County Public Health confirmed three cases of monkeypox in the county. All cases are tracked and reported on the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) monkeypox epi page online.
The monkeypox virus typically goes away on its own without treatment, but doctors say there are options for people with more extreme cases.
Dr. David Priest with Novant Health said an antiviral drug called "tecovirimat" or TPOXX is approved for use on smallpox but has shown results in monkeypox cases. Priest said because it is not FDA approved for monkeypox, the process for using it can be "cumbersome," so it's only for extreme cases.
"We’re hopeful in the weeks and months ahead and they’ve started to do this, sort of streamline the process a little bit, and hopefully there will be more access to the drug," Dr. Priest said. "They recommend it potentially for pregnant women who have monkeypox, sometimes children or sometimes there are severe anatomic locations of monkeypox disease that they recommend the treatment."
While monkeypox cases can be painful most, doctors said, are mild.
"We may make it at some point on the road (where) we have widely available treatments and everybody that has any degree of monkeypox will get treatment we are just not there right now," Dr. Priest said. "So the treatments have to be given to those with the most severe cases."
Monkeypox is primarily spread through prolonged direct skin-to-skin contact or potentially prolonged face-to-face interactions.
There is a vaccine for the virus but it is only eligible to select groups of people who meet the following criteria in the last 90 days.
- Anyone directly exposed to someone diagnosed with monkeypox
- Men who have sex with men OR transgender people who meet one of the following criteria:
- Had anonymous or multiple sex partners.
- Had a sexually transmitted infection
- Receive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
"In this particular situation, those are the groups where we are seeing cases and so I think what we have to remember is we should not be stigmatizing members of communities," said Dr. Priest. "We want to put our limited resources where they need to be used because we want to make sure this doesn’t spread any further than it already has."
North Star LGBTQ Community Center is hosting weekly vaccine clinics every Tuesday to help stop the spread. Board members with the organization say they are seeing a good response.
"All of our appointments have been filled, usually within the day of announcing the clinic, so it’s been really encouraging and has been helping us to continue to offer these on a weekly basis," said Spencer Foster, a board member with North Star.
While the vaccine is available through the Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Foster said it's important that it be offered through their organization as well.
"Many people may not feel comfortable talking to just general health professionals, just given the nature of the eligibility requirements for this vaccine," Foster said. "So having somewhere where they’re more comfortable a place that feels a little safer than just a generic doctor's office can just be encouraging to some people."
While monkeypox spread is not like COVID-19, Dr. Priest said he doesn't believe the virus will be going away anytime soon.
"We're going to be dealing with (monkeypox) in healthcare for weeks and months to come and you make it to a situation where it’s kind of just endemic in the population where you have to deal with it periodically," Dr. Priest said.