NTAHC Pop Up Clinics

NT Health (information)

"learn more about MPX"

Monkeypox

Monkeypox (MPX) is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans through close contact with:

• an infected animal or person
• contaminated materials.

It’s related to smallpox, but is less contagious and causes less severe disease.

You can identify it by a rash and for most people, symptoms will clear up on their own after 2 to 4 weeks.

How it is spread.

Who is at risk - eligibility!

You are eligible to receive the MPX vaccine if you’re at least 16 years old and are one of the following:

• A high-risk close contact of a confirmed case (post exposure vaccination)
• Gay and bisexual men, men who have sex with men.
• Trans (binary and non-binary) people who have sex with men
• a sex worker
• a sistergirl

MPX is spread between people through:

• close contact with rashes, blisters or sores on the skin
• body fluids, including respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing
• contaminated objects such as linen and towels.
• 
  

Although it’s not a sexually transmitted infection (STI), it can transfer through physical contact during sex.

It is unclear whether you can get MPX through semen or vaginal fluids.

During pregnancy, MPX can also pass to the baby through the placenta.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of MPX can start 5 to 21 days after exposure.

They can include:

• a distinctive rash with lesions (flat bumps that become raised, fill with fluid, and then crust and scab)
• swollen lymph nodes
• fever or history of fever
• headache
• muscle aches
• joint or back pain
• chills
• fatigue
• sore throat.

If you develop any of these symptoms and are in one of the at-risk groups, you should seek medical advice immediately.

Treatment

MPX is usually mild and people usually recover within a few weeks.

Most cases will only require:

• supportive treatment
• treatment of complications eg. antibiotics for infected skin sore.

Your doctor will decide whether you need treatment with anti-viral medication.

Isolation

MPX can be infectious from the time symptoms develop, and until all scabs have healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed.

Infected people must isolate until all blisters or sores have healed. This may take several weeks.

Vaccine

The MPX vaccine will initially be given to those at highest risk of:

• contracting the disease
• severe outcomes if the disease were to be contracted.

As more vaccines become available, it will be expanded to more people.

CONTACT NTAHC DARWIN OR CLINIC 34 FOR THE LATEST VACINATION POP UP CLINIC DATES!