According to the most recent data from the CDC, more than 8,900 monkeypox cases have been reported in the U.S. at the time of publication.
, tells SELF. “It’s very difficult to get infected with monkeypox through clothing, except in a household-context situation with lots and lots of contact,” Dr. Chin-Hong says.
Outside of this specific household context, a person would need to have prolonged contact with a garment that’s, in turn, come into prolonged contact withto face a high risk of infection from clothing—for example, if you rubbed your skin along the contaminated fabric until you experienced microscopic cuts through which the virus could enter your body, Dr. Chin-Hong explains.COVID-19 pandemic
. As Dr. Chin-Hong explains, shopping of any kind—including thrifting for clothes—is very low on the hierarchy of risk for monkeypox transmission as experts currently understand it. Instead, the riskiest activities that are driving the current outbreak are those that involve close, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an active infection—like, say, kissing an infected person.
, if you’re living with someone who has an active case, is to disinfect surfaces and keep clothing and linens separate until the person who is sick fully recovers and is no longer contagious. Of course, our understanding of viruses can change rapidly as an outbreak grows. The best way to protect yourself