The Oregon Health Authority has confirmed a second pediatric case of monkeypox virus in the state.
To protect the patient’s privacy, OHA will not disclose the child’s sex, age or county of residence. A pediatric case is defined as someone with the virus who is between zero and 17 years old.
Local public health officials who have investigated the pediatric case confirm that there are no links to a school, childcare or other community setting.
The Oregon child was tested for monkeypox on Sept. 14 and the positive test results were reported to public health Sept. 19. The local public health authority, with OHA support, has been conducting case investigation and contact tracing to determine whether there are other exposures.
Including the new pediatric case, there are currently (09/21/22) 204 presumptive and confirmed cases of monkeypox in nine counties in Oregon. There are 141 cases in Multnomah; 24 in Washington; 22 in Lane; six each in Clackamas and Marion; two in Columbia; and one each in Coos, Hood River and Union.
Monkeypox spreads primarily through close skin-to-skin contact. Most commonly during the current outbreak, this has been through intimate or sexual contact.
Infection has also occurred during close, skin-to-skin contact with the lesions of an individual with monkeypox through a caregiving relationship, such as a parent caring for a child or an adult caretaker of another person. Much less often, monkeypox could spread through contact with towels, clothing or other objects that have been in contact with monkeypox lesions. Large respiratory droplets or oral fluids that might come from prolonged face-to-face contact could also transmit the virus, but it is uncommon.
