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Pediatrician: Monkeypox in children more likely to come from home exposure than school

This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID via AP)

How concerned should parents be about their child contracting monkeypox in school settings? A Duke Health pediatric expert says that while children are susceptible to the virus, it's not likely to spread rapidly once schools reopen this fall. 

Dr. Ibukun Kalu is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Duke School of Medicine and a medical director of pediatric infection prevention at Duke University Medical Center.

Kalu says that any cases of monkeypox in children will likely come from a household setting, not a school outbreak.

"It's important to emphasize it's prolonged exposure, prolonged contact," says Kalu. "We're not expecting that child care settings and schools will see rampant monkeypox infections run through the kids, but it is possible for children to get infected."

Kalu says while the key presenting symptom of monkeypox is a rash, children are prone to rashes from other vaccine-preventable diseases, and parents should not jump to conclusions about the cause.

She says it's important that adults seek care if they have a new rash or have an exposure prior to working in a child care setting. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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