Monkeypox - should we be worried?

[curiousitygotthebetterofme]

I’m not sure, but what are we meant to make of today’s announcement that the WHO have now declared it a global health emergency?

The thing that worries me is that I’m pretty sure the same thing happened with covid in early 2020 then less than 3 months later it was a global pandemic. Hopefully this isn’t the same

I heard it mostly spread through gay male sex so while it’s good to be vigilant I’m not overly concerned about me and my family personally. Obviously can’t speak for the gay community and I know there is a chance it will spread outside the community but that is what I heard in the news earlier.

It is far less transmissible than Covid and isn't spread by droplets/airborne so there would be no need for lockdowns, social distancing etc.

Screenshot from Sky News, under the heading advising that Monkeypox has been declared a National Health Emergency by the WHO. Please pay attention to the middle of the screenshot where it gives stats.

Gay men, specifically men who have sex with men, are at the highest risk by far.

Also I think there is more than one vaccine. It's very similar to smallpox so they have been able to quickly alter it to work for Monkeypox.

You do realise that bubonic plague is still out there?

It's not a novel virus either, we've seen it before, this isn't the first time it's been detected in humans. The COVID virus had never made that jump from animals to humans before so we had no idea what would happen.

I feel confident that the WHO will take threats of pandemics more seriously from now on, but am I desperately worried? No.

Don't believe there have been any fatalities from monkey pox, and there is a vaccine, but I understand it is painful and it's not something you want to get!

Given the numbers, it will spread to the general population at some point (disease gonna disease!) But hopefully with awareness and good infection control (cleaning, washing bed linen, contact tracing) outbreaks will be contained and people will get better.

Sorry just speaking for England there!

Unless you are having a lot of casual
sex with multiple partners and have an incredibly weakened immune system, you’ll be fine

It’s not good for pregnant women - and the jury is out in whether they can and should be vaccinated

so I’m a tiny bit worried - also there has also been a case of it in a local school (SW London).

that said I’ve not heard anything about that more recently - so no suggestion that it’s led to a wider outbreak at that school

if I wasn’t pregnant I wouldn’t be as worried - there have been six fatalities worldwide

A young Dutch child has it at the moment.

It’s very serious for pregnant women.

i think it could be mistaken for chicken pox in children so it will be interesting to see if they give tests out considering the WHO are concerned.

Doesn’t the smallpox vaccine protect against it? I’m not sure when that stopped being given to everybody.

Moneybox or vaccine-induced shingles? Same symptoms 🤔

No, people who have been vaccinated have been getting it.

I don’t know enough about it to know if it effects how badly you get it though. I’m not sure anyone does at the moment.

How do you catch it. I thought it was like a STD but obviously not. Not sure where to get info

I think it can be transmitted via coughs/sneezes etc

The info that the media have released have implied it is an std when it is not. Can be caught through close contacts. I think even if we believe our individual risk to be low it is still concerning from an “impact to the health system “ point of view , as that is already so strained

Much more likely to be spread though intimate contact, so a sore rubbed on your skin, or sharing a bed. You can catch it through coughs and sneezes from someone who has it, but it's more commonly spread by skin rubbing, hence the std association.

This page has the guidance https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/monkeypox/

The health system strain is mainly going through UKHSA contact tracing and local sexual health services, but I don't think many cases have ended up in hospital, its mainly been a case of isolating at home.

It is not an STD!

It just happens that the contact tracing identified that there were a number of cases traced back to some events/locations where gay men had been in contact and so specific warnings were sent out to that demographic.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/monkeypox/

It is not as easily transmittable as other infectious diseases and is predominantly spread by skin to skin contact (hence the link to sex) so it's not like Covid where it can be easily and quickly passed on by a sneeze or a minute of contact.

It’s not an STD. Droplets in the air And even touching a towel or t shirt of the infected can pass it on.

I thought 5 have died so far. They don’t seem to be giving too much away. I guess they don’t want covid concerns all over again. Isolation is longer than covid 🥹

If you’re on tiktok look up maximsap. He had it recently and documented his journey.

If ebola and covid19 have taught us anything, its try not to worry. These things sort themselves one way or another. Let the experts sort, us worrying will achieve nothing but make us ill

IIRC, the monkeypox vaccine is a live vaccine and therefore unlikely to be safe for the immune suppressed, who are quite probably those most likely to become seriously ill

Monkeypox is mainly spread by skin-to-skin contact, but can also be spread by skin contact to contaminated items

Saw this on Twitter:

A very important paper on 528 #monkeypox cases in 16 nations indicates sex between men drives the outbreak.

98% were gay or bi men, 75% were white, 41% had HIV. No women.

95% of cases thought to have transmitted during sex.

I think they are offering vaccines to MSM at the moment

This is a great resource for understanding monkeypox - a This Week in Virology episode recorded specially to discuss it:

Vincent Racaniello is a professor in Virology.