“The safest thing to do is get tested,” Dr. Russo says it’s really best to call your doctor. But, if you suspect you may have monkeypox or chickenpox, or you’re just not sure what’s going on, Dr. (The CDC notes that chickenpox usually lasts about four to seven days.) What should you do if you develop pox-like bumps?Īgain, depending on where you live and who you interact with, the risk to the general population at this time of contracting either virus is low. “It will take two to four weeks for those monkeypox lesions to resolve completely, whereas chickenpox lesions resolve much more quickly,” Dr. How long you’re sick for factors in, too. Monkeypox lesions also tend to change over time and may “umbilicate,” which means they form an indentation or little crater in the middle, Dr. But monkeypox causes a “deep-seated, firm, or rubbery kind of lesion-it’s much more firm and stable than the chickenpox lesion,” he explains.Ĭhickenpox lesions can “break easily, whereas monkeypox lesions do not,” Dr. There are some potential cues with the rashes, too, which “are both similar and different,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.Ĭhickenpox, for example, creates a “very thin-walled, fragile blister” that’s usually filled with clear fluid, Dr. However, he points out, “adults can get chickenpox if they’re not vaccinated” and there have been at least two cases of monkeypox in children. (Monkeypox has largely shown up in men who have sex with men chickenpox typically is more common in kids). In general, monkeypox and chickenpox tend to appear in “very different demographic groups,” Dr. “Rarely in our lifetimes have we had we had two pox diseases co-circulating at the same time.” “They’re both viral infections that cause pox-like lesions,” he says. It’s actually not easy for most people to tell the difference, says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. in 1995, more than 3.5 million cases of the virus have been prevented, the CDC says. but, since the chickenpox vaccine became available in the U.S. It can cause an itchy, blister-like rash that usually appears on the chest, back, and face, before spreading over the entire body.Ĭhickenpox used to be very common in the U.S. Worth noting, per the CDC: Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.Ĭhickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the CDC explains.
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Monkeypox is a viral disease that can be spread between people or between people and certain animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). chickenpoxīy now, you’re probably familiar on some level about what monkeypox and chickenpox is, but it never hurts to recap them. chickenpox? Here’s the deal, according to infectious disease experts.
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It’s important to point out that both viral infections are somewhat rare in the U.S. Could you be dealing with monkeypox or chickenpox?
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and cases continue to rise across the country, it’s understandable to be confused.
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But, now that monkeypox is circulating in the U.S. If you developed a pox-like rash before this summer, you’d probably suspect chickenpox and call your doctor about next steps.