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?

Fear of the pox... in negative numbers

Fear of a snowball of overreaction after the last couple of years and having to do remote learning again... I'll be over there rocking in the corner.

It doesn't seem very transmissible, r value of around 1 but it is concerning that the symptoms are worse in children. I am not sure what the likelyhood of mutation is especially if it is mainly spreading in the immuo-compromised but there should be some existing immunity in the elderly at least with the smallpox vaccine.

Reading this thread has actually made me more worried, because it should be easy to contain and stamp out, but that won't happen if people are complacent or blase about how serious an illness it is. Lots of misinformation or misunderstandings on this thread too.

• 'Mild' does not mean what we usually understand by 'mild' in the UK. It means mild compared to smallpox and ebola. Mortality rate for the mildest strain is 1 in 100 die. Children and young adults get it worst. The NHS also says 'most people recover in 2-4 weeks'. That's the ones who are least badly affected and have it 'mildly'. 4 weeks off school/work feeling awful is how 'mild' is being defined here.
• It is not an STD. If i have sex with my husband when he has a cold I will probably catch his cold. That does not make a cold an STD. It can be transmitted through face to face contact, coughs, sneezes, sharing towels etc.
• There are no treatments. The smallpox vaccine is 85% effective against it, but once you have it we do not have treatments.

All of this info is freely available on the NHS website.

If the smallpox vaccination gives protection (to some extent) older people will be safer as it was routinely given in the UK until 1971.

It seems strange how it's suddenly hitting Europe, the US and Australia. I wonder if it's been spread deliberately.

Interesting article in nature about the spread. It does seem concerning regarding the extent of human to human transmission and degree of spread worldwide.
www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01421-8

I'm old enough to have had the smallpox vaccine as a baby so I'm not too worried.

Presumably it’s more prevalent in younger people because anyone born before the late 70’s has been vaccinated against smallpox so will have automatic immunity.

I thought it was strange because there were no connections to high frequency cases. Oh well, better safe than sorry 😕

This virus has never been classified as a STI. All the studies to date show that it spreads through close, prolonged contact, not necessarily skin-to-skin. Also via contaminated surfaces.

I share your concern about stigmatising gay men, I have read some shocking things today, but saying this is mainly a sexually transmitted disease surely makes that worse.

I am somewhat concerned about this virus - around a 3 - because it seems to be spreading more easily than previous outbreaks. Human-to-human transmission has never really been a thing before, outside of Western and Central Africa, where the virus is endemic. There, cases of transmission have been household members or frontline HCP.

While this is not primarily an STI, in this outbreak it is primarily spreading among gay and bisexual men. It's important that we can talk about this, first and foremost for the sake of their health. The people most at risk need accurate information.

The large cluster of cases in Spain is centred around a men's sauna. The other clusters are almost all in big cities which will have similar venues. Add in a bit of long-awaited international travel and removal of restrictions and it's not difficult to understand how this has spread in the way it has.

Since PrEP came on the scene, and drug regimes that can reduce HIV viral loads to zero, there has been a huge revival in gay male casual sex which necessarily involves prolonged close contact.

Gay and bisexual men need accurate information. Pride month starts in 12 days.

I had the smallpox vaccination as a child (now in my 50s) but that was so we could go abroad on holiday

Mild' does not mean what we usually understand by 'mild' in the UK

It simply means 'does not require hospital admission' - you can still be really very unwell. And yes, it can mean several weeks duration.

I live near the Royal Free and have been in there many times, both inpatient and outpatient. I'm not concerned, we've had Ebola, Covid, Bird Flu and now monkeys. I'm proud of the job they do with these diseases

And just as we are signing up to an international system of pandemic control.

my skin gets permanently marked from everything. So yes, I'm scared of this. Whatever the source, it's a worry.

I’m a 3 ….but I worry about everything

Born in 1976, so pretty sure I haven't had a smallpox vaccine. Mum won't remember.

And just as we are signing up to an international system of pandemic control

You mean the US proposals seeking to enhance international information-sharing? That could be pretty useful

Here's really silly question that I hope will be rapidly shit down (and explained)

But when I heard monkeypox, I thought of the AZ covid vaccine and its use of a chimp adenovirus. They can't be connected, can they?

SHOT down, damn you, SHOT!!!!

No, I've not heard about that.

1

One of my best mates is an infectious diseases Dr who has had Monkey pox herself. She's not worried about it.

I meant this

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9550/

Did it scar though? My chicken pox scars are highly visible, forty years later.

I think smallpox vaccination ended in 1971 in the UK. So I should have had it but my mum can't remember what she had for breakfast so I've got no hope of knowing if I've had it.

i think as a precaution, we need to start stockpiling bananas…