The Department of Health (DOH) said that monkeypox is not considered as a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire debunked this misconception during a recent press briefing.
"Monkeypox has not been classified as a sexually transmitted disease," said Vergeire on Tuesday, August 2.
"Although pag tinignan mo yung term (if you look at the term), it can be transmitted through sexual contact but it can also be transmitted through other means like the fomites," she added.
Vergeire, meanwhile, said that they understand this misconception since in this present time—about 95 percent of the cases worldwide are transmitted through sexual contact.
"The very reason kung bakit naiisip siguro ng mga tao na ito ay STD ay dahil sa presentasyon na naipapakita niya (why people think that this is an STD is because of the presentation that it shows) in this current spread of this disease all over the world. Nakita po natin (We have seen) that almost 95 percent of cases across the globe was transmitted through sexual contact," she said.
"Nakikitaan po ng lesions yung mga maseselang bahagi ng katawan ng mga indibidwal na ito (Lesions are usually seen in the sensitive parts of the body of these individuals)," she added.
Based on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox can “spread to anyone through direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluids from a person with monkeypox,” intimate physical contact; contact with respiratory secretions such as during prolonged face-to-face contact; or by "touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox."
Symptoms of monkeypox can include: fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and rashes in any parts of the body, the US CDC said.
“Kahit sino sa atin maaring makakuha ng monkeypox (Anyone of us can get monkeypox). It is not just confined to that sector. Kaya dapat lahat tayo ay mag-iingat (So, we should all be careful),” she added.