canyonwalker: Sullivan, a male golden eagle at UC Davis Raptor Center (Golden Eagle)
Two days ago I wrote about Monkeypox, an old disease at new risk of becoming another global pandemic. One thing I did not address in that blog is what Monkeypox is. For those who don't know from current events news and discussions, it's a viral disease (like Coronavirus) that jumped from animals to humans (like Coronavirus) that has a few symptoms like Coronavirus but is especially known for causing a painful, blistering rash (unlike Coronavirus). Also unlike Coronavirus, Monkeypox is spread primarily through skin-to-skin contact. People get infected by having close physical contact with a contagious person, not by merely breathing air in the same room as them.

The contact nature of Monkeypox transmission has led a lot of public health experts and advocates to raise the alarm among gay men's communities. Gay men— or more broadly, "men who have sex with men", as the common messaging goes— are at greatest risk. Indeed, the CDC report I cited on Tuesday notes that 94% of the cases are in men who reported recent male-male sexual activity. BTW, an update from the CDC today increases the estimated number of cases in the US from 7,500 to 10,000. A 33% increase in two days is a clear sign of a growing epidemic.

I am of two minds about the way Monkeypox is being communicated as a risk primarily to gay men. On the one hand, it's helpful to direct public health information at those most at risk. On the other hand, gay sex is already stigmatized by a large minority of the public. Characterizing Monkeypox as a gay men's disease risks further stigmatizing their sexuality and misleading the public about how Monkeypox spreads.

Monkeypox is not an STD. It is a contact disease. It can be spread between any two people of any gender or sexual preference. And of any age. I emphasize age because think about what happens when this disease appears in preschool and elementary school children. Kids play with each other. They hug, they tumble, they roughhouse. Then they hug and kiss their parents. Soon Monkeypox is going to be an everybody problem, not just a "men who have sex with men" problem. The time to take it seriously is now.
canyonwalker: coronavirus (coronavirus)
I haven't written a Tier Tuesday blog in several weeks. I've been meaning to use the weekly slot to talk about not Coronavirus but another potential pandemic on the horizon. While the Coronavirus pandemic isn't really over so much as it's turning into the Coronavirus endemic it seems that player 2, or pandemic 2, is already entering the game. Monkeypox.

Player 2 has entered the game

Monkeypox is spreading at a dangerous time. Covid-19 deniers have hamstrung the ability of public health organizations in the government to measure and communicate the degree of the problem. On top of that, Covid fatigue means that far too many people just don't care. They're burnt out. The fact the Monkeypox isn't infecting people left, right, and center— and thank all you hold holy for that, BTW— means they feel it's safe to ignore. But will it become widespread in the future? We could be in another January 2020 right now, when it was unclear whether the not-yet-named Covid-19 would fizzle out as yet another not-really-coming-to-the-US disease or... what it actually turned into.

Arguably it's not even January 2020 anymore for Monkeypox. It could be February or even March already. A report from the CDC yesterday (source: news article published by University of Minnesota, 8 Aug) says that there are already 7,500 cases in the US. This is no longer a hypothetical debate about whether Monkeypox will spread in the US in appreciable numbers; it's already here.

It's important to understand that while some aspects of these two diseases are similar, namely the way they're arguably not being taken seriously enough despite evidence available at the respective moments, they are very different in how they spread. Coronavirus is an airborne virus. You get infected by breathing the same air as someone who's contagious, especially if they're coughing or sneezing a lot because of the virus. Monkeypox, meanwhile, is not airborne. It's spread via prolonged, skin to skin contact.

Another way in which Monkeypox is different from Coronavirus is that we've got a vaccine for it already. That would be great... if there were enough. There's not. In at-risk communities where people are educated about the disease and are seeking protection, there's not enough to go around.

Will our weakened public health institutions be able to rise to this new challenge before it's too late?


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canyonwalker

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