As the United States deals with the recent outbreak of monkeypox on its soil, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new set of recommendations aimed at limiting the risk of exposure during sex.
If a person and their partner have monkeypox, or if they think that they have it, but still decide to engage in sexual act, CDC advises to keep actual physical contact to a minimum in the process.
For example, the new guidelines suggest having “virtual sex with no in-person contact” or, for example, for people to “masturbate together at a distance of at least 6 feet, without either touching each other or without touching any rash or sores”.
The agency also tells people to “consider having sex with your clothes on or covering areas where rash or sores are present, reducing as much skin-to-skin contact as possible,” to avoid kissing, and to wash their “hands, fetish gear, sex toys and any fabrics (bedding, towels, clothing) after having sex.”
People are also advised to limit their number of partners to avoid opportunities for the pathogen to spread.
The CDC notes, however, that if a person or their partner does have monkeypox, the best way to protect themselves and others is to refrain from having sex of any kind, as well as from touching or kissing each other’s bodies while sick.