Monkeypox Detected At Illinois Daycare As Worker Gets Infected: How At Risk Are Children?

A number of children at a daycare in central Illinois may have been exposed to monkeypox as a worker at the facility has tested positive for the virus.

While it was unclear how many children may have been exposed to the virus at the Rantoul, Illinois, daycare, the Food and Drug Administration has cleared those under the age of 18 to receive the monkeypox vaccine with their guardian's permission under a special circumstance, Illinois health director, Sameer Vohra, said, as reported by NBC News.

State officials said that contact tracing will be performed to determine who was in contact with the infected daycare worker and "they will be put in isolation pending results" of monkeypox testing.

"The people who have been exposed, potentially, do not need to be in quarantine, so they are being screened and assessed. Anyone with even a tiny little suspicion, we will put them in isolation pending any type of results, but they have the guidance for cleaning and they have done that probably a lot more than is even necessary," officials said during a news conference, as reported by ABC News.

The daycare worker is also in isolation and doing well, WFLD, a Fox affiliate out of Chicago, said.

Transmission of monkeypox is not airborne but does occur with close personal contact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website. It is primarily affecting men that have sex with other men. However, people that come in contact with those that are infected with the virus may also be at risk, including children.

To date, at least five children in the U.S. have tested positive for monkeypox, according to confirmed reports from around the country by state and local health officials. Two children were infected in Indiana and California, and another case was reported in an infant, who was not a resident of the U.S., traveling through Washington, D.C. in July.

Children, along with pregnant women and those individuals who are immunocompromised, have been classified by the CDC as having an increased risk for more severe illness if they contract monkeypox. But experts maintain that parents "do not been to panic" over the outbreak.

"They should be aware of what's going on with this, as they are with any medical headline," ABC News chief medical correspondent, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, told WABC, an ABC affiliate out of New York City. "They should know what's going on in their community and they should take the appropriate steps after discussing any concerns they have with their pediatrician."

Ashton also told WABC that because monkeypox is primarily spread through skin-to-skin contact, parents do not have to be concerned in public spaces, when touching door knobs, or when sharing toys, for example. But she did suggest washing hands as a precaution.

"Hand hygiene is the most important thing, not just for monkeypox but for any infectious disease," Ashton said.

The U.S. has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, with over 26,200 cases reported globally, and 7,510 of those cases confirmed in the U.S. as of Monday, according to the CDC.