Last week, the Biden Administration declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 8,900 monkeypox cases have been reported in the U.S. at the time of publication, and that number is rising by the day.
Experts’ understanding of this monkeypox outbreak, including how the virus is widely spreading, is evolving, but if you’ve been on social media—particularly on TikTok—in recent weeks, you’ve likely heard a common plea: Be especially cautious in thrift stores. These concerns have likely risen because monkeypox can potentially spread via direct contact with objects that have been contaminated with the monkeypox virus, including fabrics, according to the CDC.
But how valid are these warnings? From what experts know right now, monkeypox transmission via activities like shopping for clothes, whether the items are considered to be used or new, is “very, very unlikely,” Peter Chin-Hong, MD, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious disease at the University of California San Francisco, 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. (In this scenario, an uninfected person faces a higher risk if they’re living with or taking care of someone who has a confirmed case of monkeypox.)
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 with monkeypox lesions or sores to 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.
The idea of a “hierarchy of risk” is something many of us are now familiar with, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic (remember when we were all washing our groceries?). 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. While the CDC also says that “touching objects, fabrics, and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox” is a potential mode of transmission, Dr. Chin-Hong stresses that surface transmission, like touching a doorknob, is less likely to lead to infection.
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The CDC also notes that monkeypox appears to be susceptible to household cleaners, so the current recommendation, 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 if you’re in a high-risk group is to get the monkeypox vaccine if you’re eligible. Otherwise, all the precautions you’ve taken throughout the last couple of years will go a long way in helping to reduce your risk of getting sick from, well, anything. Follow local guidelines based on monkeypox transmission rates in your area; if you develop any potentially concerning symptoms, including a skin rash or flu-like illness, the CDC says you should isolate yourself from other people and reach out to a health care provider if you can—just be sure to call before you show up in person, so the location can take appropriate precautions.
In the meantime, you shouldn’t stress over shopping as you normally would—and that should include being diligent about washing or sanitizing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, and throwing any clothing into the washing machine before wearing them out.
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Source: SELF
