Monkeypox?

[MonkeypoxThread]

Apologies if there is already a thread about this - the search function is useless atm! I will get this deleted if it's a duplication.

Just interested to read MNers views on this as I don't know what to make of the news reports, and I know there are very knowledgable MNers. I think it's hard for people with no knowledge of things like this, to gauge the "significance" of these cases from the news.

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "meh, whatever, fuck it" and 10 being "PANIC MODE ENABLED" I'm normally about a 3. Is that about right?

The kid hospitalised may have underlying issues or they may be vulnerable

Sorry, still not a concern.

How many new cases today??

We won't get to covid numbers with monkey pox but of we did and that was the rate of children being hospitalised then we'd be screwed

I don't want to be alarmist comedy but that was my first thought too.

This is not a great start to dealing with a new endemic that impacts the young and the vulnerable more than most. The first batch of children to be infected, and one is already in ICU. Until we know more, and we do need to start pushing for information, then I think we need to be quite careful about dismissing this as a storm in a teacup.

I obviously hope the child fully recovers though. Sad situation

How many new cases today??

I don't think we are being updated, or being informed. I am not comforted by the lack of information. I have had to read through pages and pages of WHO documents to get to even the basics.

The fatality risk is between 1-11%

If you are not worried, of course that is good, but I think it is rather head in the sand, and I would rather face up to the fact we do have a bit of a problem - again, and this could be worse than covid, especially for younger children.

I'm sure you didn't mean this to sound as awful as it does?

Sorry x posted with your second post. I think it's a revealing comment though as a lot of people thought this in CV - "only vulnerable people...not my personal problem"

Ironically I actually do feel as we are a minority, the majority need to live their lives with as few restrictions as possible, but it doesn't feel nice to just be referred to dismissively as though we are collateral damage.

Affecting children badly is of course the worst possible scenario and I really really hope this isn't the case.

I'm not religious at all but I'm starting to feel like we're receiving the seven plagues.

If this does turn out to infect children on anything larger than on a very very small scale, with the outcomes ending up in ICU. We will be back in a lockdown for sure before you know it until the vaccine can be rolled out, we haven't got enough beds or children's hospitals to deal with even a relatively small number of very poorly children.

That is why I am worried. The speed of the spread is key, and a highly efficient contact tracing policy with 21 day quarantine is the only thing that will stop this from becoming a very big problem for absolutely everyone - wherever you are, regardless of whether you have dc or not.

wildflower

Yes I know what you mean, I am slightly more cynical myself and wonder how it was introduced so suddenly out of the blue right at this moment....

53 cases 65 million people

There is absolutely 0 evidence that this is spreading rapidly. In fact it’s disappeared out of the news entirely now.

Like all illnesses which occasionally make it into the country such as Ebola, this is a storm in a teacup, but the media are using the panic of COVID to make this look like a disaster in the making.

Funny how the increase in cases of hepatitis in children seems to have dropped off now that the media have a new virus to scaremonger with.

And we will 100% not be going back into lockdown. For starters the public just won’t comply. In fact I would go so far as to say that if the government attempt to introduce a new lockdown there would be civil unrest, shops would continue to trade, people would continue to go to work, and it would be on such a mass scale that it would be impossible to police.

i don't think we will get a lockdown....thats for pandemics,not this!

it may affect kids more but the vast majority may not even need to see a g.p let alone be hospitalised!! parents can manage it at home and keep their own family safe and the rest of us can continue with life and work. How can the country afford more lockdowns? people now, more than ever need to be out earning

Boris will still be out partying no matter what happens

Let's hope it doesn't reach pandemic status but given that it's easily spread (just imagine you could have one person on a bus or train with it...) it could quickly become a communicable disease of concern. And yes, fine and dandy for most if people keep infected family at home and are very careful with their hygiene, but that's assuming that they do really follow hygiene rules enough to stop infection spread in its tracks.

Hello, that was me. Did you see what it was in response to?

Someone said, 'We go to clubs in foreign places and have sex with people from all over.' - as if this was just inevitable, nothing to be done about it.

So yes, I suggested that people might want to knock that kind of behaviour on the head for a bit.

I'm well aware it's not an STI but neither is it easy to catch without CLOSE PROLONGED contact.

And yes, I do mean everybody.

I'm well aware it's not an STI but neither is it easy to catch without CLOSE PROLONGED contact

That is incorrect.
Monkeypox can be spread through respiratory droplets, contaminated items and surfaces and simple touch. You can catch it sitting next to an infected person in a taxi or on a train.It does not need to be especially close or prolonged.

How long is it since the first UK case was reported? It's was at least a fortnight ago but I reckon more like a month? So unless there's a lot of cases not yet picked up, it doesn't seem to be spreading rapidly?

I think the issue is that the cases are not connected to the first reported one. It seems there was quite some community spread before it was even picked up, which is worrying.

Someone said, 'We go to clubs in foreign places and have sex with people from all over.' - as if this was just inevitable, nothing to be done about it.

That was me, and that is normal human behaviour. What do you suggest we do about it?

I don't think we'll ever go back into full lockdown, not unless something came along with an incredibly high mortality rate that affected everyone equally across all demographics. If monkeypox takes hold and if children are one of the most at risk groups then at most I think we might see measures aimed solely at them. Measures such as CEV children remote learning, closure or limitations on soft play/parties/parks/other child-centric venues, enhanced infection control measures returning to schools (desks facing the front, bubbles, remote learning due to isolation, etc). Potentially similar measures for pregnant women such as working from home where possible.

That's all hypothetical though, with robust contact tracing and isolation measures then hopefully it'll be contained and will fizzle out. Here's hoping lessons were learned on this from the early stages of covid <hollow laugh>

But it isn’t easily spread.

That’s been made abundently clear by the WHO. This is nothing like COVI. You have to be in close contact with someone in order to catch it, and that person will already have monkeypox in which case you will know they have monkeypox and will be able to avoid them accordingly.

How long is it since the first UK case was reported? It's was at least a fortnight ago but I reckon more like a month? So unless there's a lot of cases not yet picked up, it doesn't seem to be spreading rapidly?How long is it since the first UK case was reported? It's was at least a fortnight ago but I reckon more like a month? So unless there's a lot of cases not yet picked up, it doesn't seem to be spreading rapidly?How long is it since the first UK case was reported? It's was at least a fortnight ago but I reckon more like a month? So unless there's a lot of cases not yet picked up, it doesn't seem to be spreading rapidly?

The first case was reported on the 7th of May. Since then we have 53 cases. So that’s an average of just over 3 a day.

This doesn’t even need to be on the radar.

It's not EASY to catch without close prolonged contact.

It's not like covid or flu.

I suggested people might want to knock it on the head for a bit.

57 as of now, but I don't know of they are being updated daily as it was 21 over the weekend .

Good luck with that.

Also with the summer festivals after the festival drought of the last few years. Not going to happen. The mood is very much Let's Have Some Serious Fun.