HOUSTON – Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo provided an update on the monkeypox response and vaccination efforts Tuesday morning.
Hidalgo announced that health officials have learned that a child under 2 years old who was previously presumed positive for monkeypox did not have the virus and the CDC determined through testing that it was a false negative. The county judge said false positives can have 4% of the time.
“False positives do happen, they’re very rare,” Hidalgo said. “We haven’t had a false positive, this is the first one we’ve had with monkeypox of all the samples we’ve sent to the CDC. They all came back that in fact, that it was a positive, but this time, they came back and said that in fact, this case was a negative.”
Original story: Child under 2 years old tests presumptive positive for monkeypox in Harris County, Judge Hidalgo says
She said the county sends some of its monkeypox sample tests to the CDC to verify if that is this virus, such as the same procedure for COVID-19.
“It’s good news to know that as far as we can tell, monkeypox remains mostly concentrated in the groups we focused our response efforts on and has not spread to kids yet,” Hidalgo said.
Vaccine eligibility expands
The city of Houston and Harris County are further expanding vaccine eligibility to include more at-risk populations. Hidalgo said the goal is to get more elgilible people vaccinated. The county has expanded the vaccine eligibility to men who have sex with men, especially if that person has multiple or anonymous sex partners, people who are HIV positive or on PREP, if you have recently been diagnosed with gonorrhea, chlamydia or syphilis.
According to Harris County Public Health, there have been a total of 2,151 monkeypox vaccinations between July 11 and August 22. Of those, 2,149 are first doses and two are second doses.
Monkeypox can spread to all people, regardless of age, race, identity or sexual orientation.
The virus can spread through contact with an infectious rash, scabs, bodily fluid, respiratory secretions or prolonged face-to-face or intimate physical contact. You can also get the virus by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it, like linens or clothing, according to officials.
Monkeypox typically begins as a flu-like illness with individuals having a fever, rash, or swollen lymph nodes, according to the CDC. The illness lasts two to four weeks, and it can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash fully heals and a fresh layer of skin has formed.
RELATED CONTENT