Dr. Sidney Nelson will be joining the Rewind With Besa as a recurring guest. Dr. Nelson is a board-certified internal medicine doctor who practices primary care medicine. He will bring health news and tips to the show, providing expertise that will bring an exciting new perspective to Converge Media programming. For more about him, click here

Dr. Sidney Nelson made his debut on the Rewind With Besa to discuss Monkeypox and break down what we know so far. There are over 260 cases of Monkeypox currently in Washington State, with over 200 in King County, so it’s important to get educated and stay safe.

“It has changed from the normal vector it was in and is now being transmitted through human-to-human contact.,” Dr. Nelson said. “That’s the key here.”

He said the fact that the disease, which originated in Nigeria over ten years ago, is now making the leap to people is cause for concern.

“98% of the cases of Monkeypox are in men,” Dr. Nelson said. “95% of those were developed through sexual contact. So while it’s primarily sexually transmitted, we have also found out that close contact can spread this disease.”

Dr. Nelson wanted to make it clear that while less likely, the disease can still be spread from person to person even when no sexual contact is present.

“Even just talking to someone for a prolonged period of time is a way the disease can be spread,” Dr. Nelson said.

Dr. Nelson also discussed the virus itself. It falls into the Pox section of viruses, but is “completely unrelated to Chickenpox.” He said the virus is more closely related to Smallpox. He also said some people who are vaccinated against Smallpox have been found to be immune to Monkeypox.

He also said it’s unknown if individuals who have contracted Monkeypox can get it again.

“Information is key,” Dr. Nelson said. “We have lived in a world where false information is more prolific than we would like and that can cause harm.”

Getting the Monkeypox vaccine has also been an issue for many. The supply is scarce and individuals have had to cross state lines and wait for hours.

“It threw us for a loop,” Dr. Nelson said. “Human to human spread had not been occurring, so now we have to adapt and figure out how to take on this strain of the Monkeypox.”

He hopes the production and spread of the vaccine will ramp up in the coming months, and access will become easier. Currently, use of the vaccine has been limited to those who’ve had close contact with the disease and children.

He also said the disease can exist on surfaces for up to 15 days in dark areas, so cleaning areas around known exposure is critical.

According to Dr. Nelson, if you’re diagnosed with Monkeypox you should contact your doctor and isolate for 2-4 weeks.

For more, you can follow Dr. Nelson on Instagram and Tiktok @aroundthewaydoc