Monkeypox: Rare in Children, But K-12 Schools are Still Preparing
(CNN) -- An elementary student in Georgia has tested positive for monkeypox, raising questions about how concerned schools should be about the small risk of the virus spreading among children as they head back to class.Monkeypox risk is low for school-age children.
As of Thursday, more than 16,000 people in the United States have confirmed or probable monkeypox infections, and almost all are in adults.
But as classrooms reopen this fall, K-12 schools across the United States are on alert for possible cases."They're keeping a close eye on it in their states and they're paying attention to what their governor and their state departments of health are saying -- and they're keeping it on their radar," Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of advocacy and governance for the School Superintendents Association, told CNN.Amid back-to-school season and an ongoing global outbreak of monkeypox, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes in guidance for K-12 schools and child care centers posted this monththat "the risk of monkeypox to children and adolescents in the United States is low" right now, but schools should follow their everyday protocols to reduce the transmission of any infectious disease."Does every school in the nation have monkeypox policy?
