5 ms·

Anyone know if I can get monkeypox from going to the gym?

vorpalhex 4y ago
My layman's understanding is that it's pretty unlikely unless you are getting frisky with someone. It's spread by "intimate contact" which is a lower bar than sexual contact - extended contact with an infected persons clothes or bedsheets will do. This is also why condoms don't stop the spread of monkeypox. Not the worst idea to wipe down machines before/after use as a general rule, monkeypox or not.
- abeppu 4y ago
  My layperson's understanding is also that if this were happening, we should have noticed it by now. The communities where monkeypox are blowing up all have gyms with a lot of gay customers, and if it was easy to spread we would have noticed more straight or celibate gym-goers in those areas getting infected. That said, the limited testing infrastructure and the questions screening people before they even get tested might stop us from confirming such cases? I _am_ annoyed that the guidance on how it spreads keeps getting broadened. Initially it was supposed to be fluids or skin-to-skin contact ("ok, easy, no cuddling with active rashes for now"). Now the guidance says it can be carried on cloth (e.g. linens). But really, the virus doesn't know that much about what surface it's on, right? And indeed the CDC public-facing guidance does say that it can spread from "shared surfaces, and objects, such as bedding, towels, and sex toys, that were used by a person with monkeypox", but only under a collapsible heading "Can I get monkeypox from having sex?" I.e. they recognize that surfaces can carry it, but perhaps there needs to be a lot of contact with the surface in question. But if, for example, I'm unaware I'm infected but I lie on a pool-side lounge chair which someone else then uses ... couldn't that be comparable shared contact as a bedsheet? Is that so far off from contact with a bench at the gym? Slightly more concerning is: > "It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact" The same page includes "talking closely" as a form of "intimate contact". So it does sound like it can be spread by airborne particles but perhaps less easily than the other viruses we've all been dealing with. If there are a few treadmills in small, not especially well ventilated room, at what point do two people running there share respiratory particles which are comparable to prolonged face-to-face contact? https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/faq.html https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/faq.html
  - buscoquadnary 4y ago
    Honestly with that many different ways it notes that almost feels like those "rare but serious side effects" I see at the end of drug commercials. It feels like they don't have a for sure good idea so they are covering all their bases just to be safe.
  - mellavora 4y ago
    > But really, the virus doesn't know that much about what surface it's on, right? actually, it might. Porous vs impermeable surfaces can affect how long a viral particle remains infectious. Could also be potential electrostatic effects, copper for example. Not that many people have stainless steel bedsheets...
    - abeppu 4y ago
      I'm not claiming that all surfaces are exactly equal in their ability of transmitting it. But the guidance of "such as bedding, towels, ..." under a heading specifically about sex makes it seem like an artificially narrow category. How about upholstered furniture? Did the last guest lie shirtless on the sofa in your airbnb or hotel room? People are acting like this is only an issue of gay men having sex, and while clearly that's a very large factor, as the outbreak grows I'm guessing the chance of other forms of community transmission are going to rise.
      - vorpalhex 4y ago
        We've historically treated the bedsheets of the ill as being an infection vector, before germ theory. It is odd they tie bedsheets to sex contact alone. Eg if you sometimes co-sleep, that itself is a vector. Though good chances are you are also having sex with your sleeping partner. There is a time element as well. If someone with the disease laid out on your sofa yesterday and it's dried out since, you're fine. It also probably requires sustained (and probably wet - eg sweat) contact.
samhyde69 4y ago
ZoomerCretin 4y ago
If someone with Monkeypox visits your gym, and you touch the same surfaces they touch, yes, it is possible. Source: https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.26.2200477 https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.E... Even after they recover, they are still very infectious: https://twitter.com/alexmeshkin/status/1543313032817917953 https://twitter.com/alexmeshkin/status/1543313032817917953 And yes, someone with Monkeypox went to a gym after feeling sick (https://twitter.com/KxngRudy/status/1545893342994644994 https://twitter.com/KxngRudy/status/1545893342994644994).

My layman's understanding is that it's pretty unlikely unless you are getting frisky with someone. It's spread by "intimate contact" which is a lower bar than sexual contact - extended contact with an infected persons clothes or bedsheets will do. This is also why condoms don't stop the spread of monkeypox. Not the worst idea to wipe down machines before/after use as a general rule, monkeypox or not.

abeppu 4y ago
My layperson's understanding is also that if this were happening, we should have noticed it by now. The communities where monkeypox are blowing up all have gyms with a lot of gay customers, and if it was easy to spread we would have noticed more straight or celibate gym-goers in those areas getting infected. That said, the limited testing infrastructure and the questions screening people before they even get tested might stop us from confirming such cases? I _am_ annoyed that the guidance on how it spreads keeps getting broadened. Initially it was supposed to be fluids or skin-to-skin contact ("ok, easy, no cuddling with active rashes for now"). Now the guidance says it can be carried on cloth (e.g. linens). But really, the virus doesn't know that much about what surface it's on, right? And indeed the CDC public-facing guidance does say that it can spread from "shared surfaces, and objects, such as bedding, towels, and sex toys, that were used by a person with monkeypox", but only under a collapsible heading "Can I get monkeypox from having sex?" I.e. they recognize that surfaces can carry it, but perhaps there needs to be a lot of contact with the surface in question. But if, for example, I'm unaware I'm infected but I lie on a pool-side lounge chair which someone else then uses ... couldn't that be comparable shared contact as a bedsheet? Is that so far off from contact with a bench at the gym? Slightly more concerning is: > "It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact" The same page includes "talking closely" as a form of "intimate contact". So it does sound like it can be spread by airborne particles but perhaps less easily than the other viruses we've all been dealing with. If there are a few treadmills in small, not especially well ventilated room, at what point do two people running there share respiratory particles which are comparable to prolonged face-to-face contact? https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/faq.html https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/faq.html
- buscoquadnary 4y ago
  Honestly with that many different ways it notes that almost feels like those "rare but serious side effects" I see at the end of drug commercials. It feels like they don't have a for sure good idea so they are covering all their bases just to be safe.
- mellavora 4y ago
  > But really, the virus doesn't know that much about what surface it's on, right? actually, it might. Porous vs impermeable surfaces can affect how long a viral particle remains infectious. Could also be potential electrostatic effects, copper for example. Not that many people have stainless steel bedsheets...
  - abeppu 4y ago
    I'm not claiming that all surfaces are exactly equal in their ability of transmitting it. But the guidance of "such as bedding, towels, ..." under a heading specifically about sex makes it seem like an artificially narrow category. How about upholstered furniture? Did the last guest lie shirtless on the sofa in your airbnb or hotel room? People are acting like this is only an issue of gay men having sex, and while clearly that's a very large factor, as the outbreak grows I'm guessing the chance of other forms of community transmission are going to rise.
    - vorpalhex 4y ago
      We've historically treated the bedsheets of the ill as being an infection vector, before germ theory. It is odd they tie bedsheets to sex contact alone. Eg if you sometimes co-sleep, that itself is a vector. Though good chances are you are also having sex with your sleeping partner. There is a time element as well. If someone with the disease laid out on your sofa yesterday and it's dried out since, you're fine. It also probably requires sustained (and probably wet - eg sweat) contact.

samhyde69 4y ago

ZoomerCretin 4y ago

If someone with Monkeypox visits your gym, and you touch the same surfaces they touch, yes, it is possible. Source: https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.26.2200477 https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.E... Even after they recover, they are still very infectious: https://twitter.com/alexmeshkin/status/1543313032817917953 https://twitter.com/alexmeshkin/status/1543313032817917953 And yes, someone with Monkeypox went to a gym after feeling sick (https://twitter.com/KxngRudy/status/1545893342994644994 https://twitter.com/KxngRudy/status/1545893342994644994).