monkeypox-protocols

Our clinical staff are trained and fully prepared to identify any patient presenting with signs and symptoms consistent with monkeypox infection. Our team of healthcare professionals will follow guidelines that are established as best practices by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Public Health (DPH), and will assist in connecting any patient suspected of having monkeypox with treatment options.

Students presenting to UNG Student Health Services with a history of contact with known Monkeypox or have symptoms of Monkeypox will be evaluated by a clinic advanced practitioner. The clinic will have the capability of sample collection from a suspected lesion. The clinic staff will limit movement of a possible infected person within the clinic.

Clinic Procedure

If a patient is suspected to have monkeypox during registration or triage, he/she will be given a mask and immediately placed in a single person room with door closed.
The Clinic Director or Assistant Director will be notified immediately. The case specifics with be identified and, if concerned, the Department of Public Health and state epidemiologist will be contacted. The DOS and other parties affected (athletics, Res Life, CORPS, etc.) will be contacted via email.
Healthcare staff entering room should don PPE to include: gown, gloves, eye protection, N95 mask.
Kits for sample collection will be available at each SHS center.
The patient will be advised to isolate until results are available.

If positive, isolation precautions are to be followed until all lesions have resolved, the scabs have fallen off, and a fresh layer of intact skin has formed. The student is advised to avoid exposure to others, especially anyone in an immunocompromised state.
Roommates and others with whom the student is routinely in close contact will have already been exposed by the time of diagnosis. These individuals must be monitored for at least 21 days. DPH will perform contact tracing and contact with potential exposed cases.
Clinicians will notify UNG Dean of Students and the Emergency Preparedness if concern for multi-case outbreak and formulate a plan for contacts.

Information About Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms, but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal. Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.

Symptoms
People with monkeypox get a rash that may go through several stages, including scabs, before healing. The rash can initially look like pimples or blisters and may be painful or itchy.

Other Symptoms of Monkeypox Can Include:

Fever, Chills, Swollen lymph nodes

Exhaustion

Muscle aches and backache, Headache

Respiratory symptoms (e.g. sore throat, nasal congestion, or cough)

You may experience all or only a few symptoms.

Sometimes, people have flu-like symptoms before the rash.

Some people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms.

Others only experience a rash.

Monkeypox symptoms usually start within three weeks of exposure to the virus. If someone has flu-like symptoms, they will usually develop a rash one to four days later.

Monkeypox can be spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has healed, all scabs have fallen off, and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts two to four weeks.

If You Have a New or Unexplained Rash or Other Symptoms:

Avoid close contact, including sex or being intimate with anyone, until you have been checked out by a healthcare provider.

If you don’t have a provider or health insurance, visit a public health clinic near you.

When you see a healthcare provider, wear a mask, and remind them that this virus is circulating in the area.

Treatment

There are no treatments specifically for monkeypox virus infections. However, monkeypox and smallpox viruses are genetically similar, which means that antiviral drugs and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections.

Antivirals, such as tecovirimat (TPOXX), may be recommended for people who are more likely to get severely ill, like patients with weakened immune systems.

If you have symptoms of monkeypox, you should talk to your healthcare provider, even if you don’t think you had contact with someone who has monkeypox.

Most people with monkeypox recover fully within two to four weeks without the need for medical treatment.

Vaccines

CDC recommends vaccination for people who have been exposed to monkeypox and people who may be more likely to get monkeypox.

Learn more about Monkeypox from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Learn more about the centralized scheduling tool for the monkeypox vaccine from the Georgia Department of Public Health website.

Monkeypox Protocols and Information

Clinic Procedure

Information About Monkeypox

Other Symptoms of Monkeypox Can Include:

If You Have a New or Unexplained Rash or Other Symptoms: