Ryan Seacrest joined UCSF Health Division of Infectious Diseases Professor, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, on-air on Friday, July 29, to learn everything we need to know about the recent monkeypox scare.
While federal officials weigh a nationwide public health emergency declaration around the outbreak, San Francisco and New York have since begun sounding the alarm.
"If we don't control the outbreak now, it could become … endemic," Dr. Peter Chin-Hong shared. "Meaning, if someone comes in with a rash ten years from now in the United States that hasn’t traveled, you might think, 'Hey that might be monkeypox,' and we don’t want to get to that place where it has to be part of the things we have to worry about day-to-day.”
Dr. Chin-Hong added, however, that the good news is we already have monkeypox tests and a vaccine ready, as well as drugs to treat it.
"Time is of the essence," he stated. "If you try to tackle things early on, it gets better."
So, do we really need to be worried about the clothes we shop for or things like lying on a hotel bed? Watch back the full interview for more, including to learn how monkeypox is spread.