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

@RedToothBrush great balanced post.

Also to pp there is nothing ‘off’ with this announcement. It’s a concern because it’s reached a new group, it affects this group severely and we have a global smallpox vaccine shortage, also as redtoothbrush said that vaccine has effects. Hence global emergency declared because it is a public health emergency.

Personally worried - depends who you are thinking of rubbing up against I suppose as it's spread by skin to skin contact. Worried it will give a lot of homophobic bigots something else to be in a froth about - yes agree that is a worry. I'm not sure whether you are worried as you are a gay man, I assume so as i assume you have educated yourself on how it spreads before posting - but I assume if you are careful with your sexual interactions your risk will be minimised. Too many assume's there in my post I realise!

Do no other groups have sex in the world then or just gay men?

Once it gets into groups with other patterns of skin-to-skin contact, then it will spread in those communities too.

Which might include between children

WHO is concerned because of the rate of increase. Even with low death rate, if the absolute numbers are high, then the numbers of deaths may be concerning.

It does show, I think, that NHS needs to recreate infectious disease wards, and infectious disease SOPs for shared facilities (like theatres and scanning departments) which can cope with at least two separate diseases at one time. It's either that or the end of safe cancer care (last thing you needs when on chemo is a hospital without adequate infectious disease control)

@Familyhistorynamechange

monkeypox isn’t an STI, but given it’s transmitted by skin to skin contact, having lots of casual sex will increase your chances of exposure. It’s not a value judgement, just maths. People in monogamous relationships are staggeringly unlikely to be exposed.

not sure what’s so horrible about facts.

Does anyone think this will cause a new pandemic?

The bbc have quoted the who as saying the “risk of interference with international traffic remained low for the moment” which implies that they would consider stopping flights from some areas?

I thought it was close bodily contact,?
I realise it's been mainly detected in men who have sex with men and I understand the reason, s for that but I thought when the story first broke they said something about people who shared towels ,and people on tubes, etc ago stand extremely close to each other because of the nature of a packed train/tube?
Could it be transmitted that way ?

For anyone who for whatever reason can't access any of the links provided in this thread

You say mainly. Currently 98%.

Which is mainly isn't it?

Well, I'd say mainly runs anywhere from 51% up, this is more 'almost exclusively' ....

but as long as we are all clear on the stats behind 'mainly' then worries about towels and packed commuter trains can be put in perspective.

Don't be so pedantic 🙄

Don't be so rude

The irony, anyway this is nt what this thread is about.

If the fatality rate is 3%. (that who article says its typically between 3 to 6% but has ranged between 0 and 11% with young children being more severely affected) you have a problem.

Unlike covid where deaths were in the elderly (keeping in mind covid had a lower fatality rate too) its affecting young children more.

So statistically say you have a three class entry primary school, and you get an outbreak in reception and every kind gets it. You are typically looking at 2 or 3 dead. Not just ill. Dead. Thats what the stats say.

Of course this scenario is probably unlikely to play out as badly as that in the UK because of the difference in our health care treatment.

However I don't think it would be bad enough to cause parents to completely panic.

And thats why, as soon as there is a class in a school (and there is now a high chance of it) that school is getting closed immediately and all the kids are getting a quarantine and a vaccine. I can not see them mucking about with half measures on that one. Not with that likely fatality rate. Not until they know more about this outbreak.

There is some good information in the attached link which is regularly updated as more is known with links included to other resource to read more. i-base.info/monkeypox/

Sexual health clinics are currently vaccinating those most at risk with walk-in centres over last weekend with long queues and the ability to book for next weekend. This is despite no extra resources to do this but hopefully this should improve along with increased vaccine availability.

Where a virus exists it does not discriminate. However it is all about route and level of transmission and how easily it can be passed on among other things. some of you might have seen Harun on the news and he also posted a video of his experience in hospital isolation. His was an extreme case.

There literally has been a case of it in a SW London school near us - last week. Parents were told by PHE

they didn’t close the class or vaccinate kids

Although the email simply says: confirmed case in the school - it doesn’t actually specify whether it’s a child or staff member

but the school didn’t close

Monkeypox - should we be worried?

Short answer: no.

I thought they did close a school? I definitely read that they shut one school in London after someone had it and no more classes for rest of the year.

Two people have died from this today-one in Brazil who had cancer so was ill anyway (I'm not sure how they got it but presuming not from gay sex...) and another in Spain. Not many details on that case yet. This is getting very very serious.

The AZ vaccine contained chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vector.
Mind my tin hat there.

Did you know it's the summer holidays now? All schools have closed 'for the rest of the year'

Yes-I was referring to the case in London when it happened a couple weeks ago in a school. They still had a week or two left at that point but they closed earlier because of the outbreak.