New York City has registered its first case of monkeypox in a child, data revealed Thursday … as cases appear to be declining in the city.
Health officials said the patient was under 18 but declined to give further details including gender and where he lived in the city.
The city health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan said while he understood the concerns of families – with children who are believed to be at higher risk from the virus – the risk of exposure remained “very low”.
It came when Dr. Rochelle Walensky revealed she was “cautiously optimistic” about the outbreak – which has reached 17,432 cases nationwide – amid signs it is now slowing in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was speaking at a White House briefing.
New York is the epicenter of America’s monkeypox outbreak – which hit 17,432 cases yesterday – with most cases among gay or bisexual men.
But there are now preliminary signs that the outbreak may be slowing in the city, with a daily average of 41 cases recorded last Friday, compared to 55 two weeks ago. No deaths from monkeypox have been reported in the United States.
NEW YORK CITY: Shown above are the cases of monkeypox detected in New York City during the day. The gray area (right) indicates the area where cases are still being added, as it often takes several days for a monkeypox test to be processed and the result announced. The number suggests the outbreak in the city is gradually slowing
United States: The graph above shows the daily number of monkeypox infections reported for the United States. Currently, daily cases do not appear to be falling nationwide
dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said today she is “cautiously optimistic” about the decline in daily monkeypox cases in some areas of the country. Shown at right is the headquarters of the New York City Department of Health
Revealing the case, Vasan said: “There is a case of MPV (or monkeypox) in a juvenile in New York City.
“While we understand the concerns of families, we also know that the overall risk of exposure to children in the city remains very low.”
It is the second juvenile case discovered in the state, with another found in New York state.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Vasan has urged parents not to worry about sending their children back to school.
“We anticipate that children will be diagnosed with cases related to household exposure related to their personal behavior,” she told reporters Monday.
“But I don’t see schools as a place where we have to worry about transmission.”
The monkeypox virus is transmitted through physical contact with infectious skin lesions or through contact with a patient’s scabs on bedding or clothing.
The disease begins with flu-like symptoms before a rash appears on one area of the body — like the chest — before spreading to the rest of the body.
It can take more than four weeks for the signs to completely disappear. During this time, the person can still transmit the virus.
So far, at least 13 cases have been detected in children across America, including five in California, three in Georgia, two in India, two in New York, one in Oregon and one in Florida.
Concerns have been raised that the return of schools could spark an upward trend in some cases.
dr Rachel Cox, an assistant professor at the MGH Institute for Health Professions, told CNN earlier this month, “As we head into the fall, I worry about outbreaks on college campuses as they’re often a place for individuals to feel better engage in sexual activity and are in close contact with many different people.
“We need to make sure we’re ready to provide resources like testing, vaccines and antivirals to places that can become hotspots.”
America has introduced vaccines and TPOXX – an antiviral – to combat the spread of the virus.
And there are now tentative signs the outbreak may be slowing in some areas, making health chiefs “cautiously optimistic” that it could be slowing down in the rest of the country soon.
In a press conference today, Dr. Rochelle Walensky notes that New York, Chicago, and San Francisco all experienced falls in newly identified cases.
The map above shows the number of monkeypox cases reported by Wach State. New York is the national hotspot with the most confirmed infections
She said: “I want to be cautiously optimistic on this, not only because of the downtrend but also because the data shows less [men who have sex with men were as sexually active].
“This speaks to the resilience and commitment of this community to address the monkeypox challenge by utilizing every tool in their toolkit.”
Nationwide, however, cases are still rising by an average of 400 infections per day.
There are signs of a slowdown in those numbers too, with the seven-day average of new infections yesterday being 10 percent lower than at the same time last week.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization noted that the number of monkeypox cases reported worldwide has fallen by 20 percent, a sign many nations are now getting a grip on the outbreak.
They attributed the downward trend in Europe to a combination of public health measures, vaccination and behavioral changes.
