In this Fast Fact video, Joe Gastaldo, MD, OhioHealth System Medical Director for Infectious Diseases, shares three monkeypox myths.
1. Monkeypox is a sexually transmitted infection.
False. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection. Monkeypox transmission requires people to have close intimate contact for a prolonged period of time.
2. Only men who have sex with men can get monkeypox.
False. Anybody can get monkeypox as long as they have close contact with somebody who has active lesions or sick with monkeypox virus.
3. Monkeypox is as contagious as COVID-19.
False. Again, not true. The virus that is still much more transmissible or contagious is the virus that causes COVID 19. Monkeypox is not transmitted through casual contact
