Outside of the attention-grabbing name, what's the big deal about this "other" viral disease? I looked it up, and first of all, it is not new, and second, it is probably unpleasant but not particularly serious. It sounds like an ugly skin rash kind of thing. Nobody wants to get it, and if we see somebody with strange, ugly skin lesions, we should not touch them in any case, but why the constant Monkeypox headlines blaring at us? Has Covid made every ailment a ghastly pandemic?
Monkeypox- why the big fuss?
- Thread starter Sunny
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RubyK
Well-known Member
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- Minnesota USA
I have been wondering about that, too. Are the news outlets just looking for new things to scare us about?
News outlets only report what they're told to report. They don't decide what to scare us about. The "Experts" create the news based on whatever they want people to believe. Anyone with "MD" or a bunch of capital letters after their name is an expert - like Fauci, Ferrer, etc.
Without fear, no one will buy into more vaccines & drugs, which means no profit. Without exaggeration (as with Covid) there won't be sufficient fear.
fuzzybuddy
SF VIP
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- The Sticks, Northeast PA.
You are not going to believe this. But I had to look up "monkey pox"
. It's not normally a fatal illness. And if your health is real "iffy", you don't need it. It's also hard to cure. It's super contagious. That's the reason for the health warning.
. It's not normally a fatal illness. And if your health is real "iffy", you don't need it. It's also hard to cure. It's super contagious. That's the reason for the health warning.
Nathan
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- High Desert- Calif.
Colleen
Senior Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
"Without exaggeration (as with Covid)"
Seriously??? You think that was "exaggerated"? Over a million people have died from Covid in this country and that is under reported. Wake up!
^^^^ And it works.
I agree. It's easier to control people who are scared witless. They will do anything to rid themselves of the fear and the unscrupulous find this lucrative.
Alligatorob
SF VIP
No, but it has made a lot of media outlets and commentators money. They are just trying to keep that alive.
SeniorBen
Senior Member
With the 24/7 news cycle, the news media reports on anything and everything. Snowstorms that dump a foot of snow are nationwide stories these days. When I was growing up, that was just a typical winter blizzard.
That said, there's barely any mention of monkeypox in today's NY Times other than how to get tested and vaccinated, which is useful information for those at risk.
Maybe it's just Fox "news" that's claiming news media is blowing the monkeypox virus out of control, and they're claiming that to get people outraged.
That said, there's barely any mention of monkeypox in today's NY Times other than how to get tested and vaccinated, which is useful information for those at risk.
Maybe it's just Fox "news" that's claiming news media is blowing the monkeypox virus out of control, and they're claiming that to get people outraged.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
Plus, for several decades it was only seen in specific regions in Africa, but recently showed up in the UK and started to spread.
I guess it only becomes newsworthy when it effects "us".
Lee
Senior Member
- Location
- Chatham, Ontario
On most Canadian newscasts the most repeated phrase seems to be that while anyone can get it they emphasize that it is mostly contracted by gay men who have sex with other men.
It is almost like we have regressed back many years when the emphasis was on AIDS and men having sex with men.
And then we found out that ANYONE could get it and did.
It is almost like we have regressed back many years when the emphasis was on AIDS and men having sex with men.
And then we found out that ANYONE could get it and did.
The news outlets are damned if they do and damned if they don't. They report the news.....as with the Covid outbreak in our country, burying your head in the sand and saying," Only 15 people have it. It's going to just go away"
It didn't go away, did it?
You blame the news media for reporting news you don't know how to handle. Monkeypox is out there, it's contagious, you can get a vaccine if you feel any danger. If you feel you aren't in danger, then go shopping and handle unsanitized carts with your hands. Lean on the ticket counter when buying a movie stub. You do realize, it only takes one person's lesion to to seep on a surface. So, let's blame the media if you happen to come down with monkeypox. No big deal, right?
It is the people who criticize all those who try to keep us safe by acknowledging issues who take the blame for the ignorant ones that are reckless and uninformed.
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OK, now I'm really confused. If the smallpox vaccine works against monkeypox as well, and pretty much everybody in this country got the smallpox vaccine as a baby, aren't we all inoculated against it? Or have they stopped giving the smallpox vaccination, since the disease has disappeared?
Both. People our age and older would have had the smallpox vaccine and should be safe from the pox. Those born after 1972 might need it. This is what my understanding of the info concludes.
rgp
Well-known Member
- Location
- Milford,OH
I believe they stopped in 1973 ..... there'a bouts.
I heard on the news this morning that it [monkey-pox] is {@ this time} only a problem among the queers.
Lethe200
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Fact Check: Monkeypox can be spread by anyone in close contact and is not a “gay disease” - contrary to posts online
By Reuters Fact Check, May 26, 2022
Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or “gay disease” that is only spread between men who engage in sexual relations with other men, contrary to social media posts online. These claims, which experts have called both false and harmful, have spread across social media platforms.
Monkeypox is a usually mild viral infection that is endemic in parts of west and central Africa. Nearly 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the disease, with more than 100 confirmed or suspected infections mostly in Europe (here).
Many, but not all, of those diagnosed in the current outbreak have been men who have sex with men (MSM), according to a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing dated May 21, 2022. This has produced a slew of false claims about the virus – such as it being an STI that is spread exclusively among gay men.
Reuters spoke to experts that expressed concern about both the inaccuracy and harmful nature of these claims. “To label it as a gay disease is both untrue and unfair”, Dr Andrew Lee, professor of public health at the University of Sheffield, told Reuters. "A person’s sexuality and sexual orientation is not the route of transmission," Lee said in an email. “Anyone can get it if they have had direct contact with an infected person”.
Dr Boghuma K. Titanji, Infectious Disease doctor and scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, agreed with this assertion. “Viruses do not care about your sexual orientation or the type of sex you have”, Titanji said via email to Reuters. “They care about a host that is susceptible to infection and the optimal conditions for transmission.”
Monkeypox is a virus that is transmitted through droplets, contaminated objects and close contact with an infected person. While it can be transmitted through close contact during sex, it can also be spread by touching material used by an infected person, their coughs and sneezes, or other skin to skin contact.
Since the current outbreak, the WHO has said that monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted infection. This is because infections spread through social networks, and an infected person is more likely to spread the virus to people they are in close contact with.
The United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS) has expressed concern that some public reporting and commentary on monkeypox reinforces homophobic and racist stereotypes. Reuters has debunked false claims that the international outbreak of monkeypox is AIDS caused by the COVID-19 vaccine – or “vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” (VAIDS).
VERDICT: False. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection, nor is it only spread between men who have sex with men. The virus can spread between sexual and non-sexual close contacts and its transmission is not limited to those of a certain sexual orientation.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.
By Reuters Fact Check, May 26, 2022
Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or “gay disease” that is only spread between men who engage in sexual relations with other men, contrary to social media posts online. These claims, which experts have called both false and harmful, have spread across social media platforms.
Monkeypox is a usually mild viral infection that is endemic in parts of west and central Africa. Nearly 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the disease, with more than 100 confirmed or suspected infections mostly in Europe (here).
Many, but not all, of those diagnosed in the current outbreak have been men who have sex with men (MSM), according to a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing dated May 21, 2022. This has produced a slew of false claims about the virus – such as it being an STI that is spread exclusively among gay men.
Reuters spoke to experts that expressed concern about both the inaccuracy and harmful nature of these claims. “To label it as a gay disease is both untrue and unfair”, Dr Andrew Lee, professor of public health at the University of Sheffield, told Reuters. "A person’s sexuality and sexual orientation is not the route of transmission," Lee said in an email. “Anyone can get it if they have had direct contact with an infected person”.
Dr Boghuma K. Titanji, Infectious Disease doctor and scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, agreed with this assertion. “Viruses do not care about your sexual orientation or the type of sex you have”, Titanji said via email to Reuters. “They care about a host that is susceptible to infection and the optimal conditions for transmission.”
Monkeypox is a virus that is transmitted through droplets, contaminated objects and close contact with an infected person. While it can be transmitted through close contact during sex, it can also be spread by touching material used by an infected person, their coughs and sneezes, or other skin to skin contact.
Since the current outbreak, the WHO has said that monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted infection. This is because infections spread through social networks, and an infected person is more likely to spread the virus to people they are in close contact with.
The United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS) has expressed concern that some public reporting and commentary on monkeypox reinforces homophobic and racist stereotypes. Reuters has debunked false claims that the international outbreak of monkeypox is AIDS caused by the COVID-19 vaccine – or “vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” (VAIDS).
VERDICT: False. Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection, nor is it only spread between men who have sex with men. The virus can spread between sexual and non-sexual close contacts and its transmission is not limited to those of a certain sexual orientation.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.
Lethe200
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
‘You do not want this’ virus: California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated
Mercury News July 3, 2022 (edited for length)
Full article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07...ith-monkeypox-urges-others-to-get-vaccinated/
Matt Ford edits videos for a living, so it wasn’t a stretch for him to put one together for TikTok. But his latest post wasn’t a crazy dance or a video about how to peel a banana the right way.
It’s based on his own experience with monkeypox. His video has been watched about 250,000 times as of Friday afternoon. He posted it to help educate people about the virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated and to make it very clear: “You do not want this.”
...In the video (https://www.tiktok.com/@jmatthiasford/video/7113735791133658410?_t=8TW9CCEw2fe&_r=1), Ford talks about how the virus spreads, and shows some of his lesions.
Monkeypox spreads when someone has direct contact with a person’s infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It can also spread through respiratory secretions during prolonged face to face contact or by touching items that previously came into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has been affected, according to the CDC.
Ford said he had been vaguely aware of a monkeypox outbreak through Twitter, but hadn’t known how close he had gotten to the outbreak until a friend reached out to let him know Ford may have been exposed. Ford said he immediately started doing a fully body check.
“I noticed a few spots that I hadn’t noticed before,” said Ford, 30. He said the spots looked like pimples or ingrown hairs, so he went to a clinic in West Hollywood for a test. Ford said a doctor took a swab and a few days later the test came back positive for monkeypox. Ford said in reality, the test merely confirmed what he already knew. The spots he found no longer looked like pimples.
“They very quickly got bigger and would fill up,” he said and they were painful, particularly the spots in more sensitive areas. He said he also felt like he had the flu. People with monkeypox can develop a fever, headache, muscle pains, chills, swollen lymph nodes and feel tired. He said he also had night sweats, a sore throat and a cough.
Some of the lesions hurt so much that he went back to the doctor, who gave him pain medication. “That proved really useful because I was finally able to sleep through the night,” Ford said. “But even the painkillers did not fully numb it. It just made it kind of bearable enough that I could go back to sleep.”
In the video, Ford is plain spoken as he looks directly into camera and warns others. “Hi, my name is Matt. I have monkeypox, this sh*t sucks and you don’t want it,” Ford tells his viewers.
Giving a tour of some of his 25 lesions, he points to his face, his arms, and the spots on his abs. “These are really not cute,” he says for emphasis.
While the disease is more commonly found in Central and West Africa, this current outbreak has hit countries that have seen few, if any, cases in the past. As of Friday, there have been 460 probable or confirmed cases in the US alone, according to the CDC. The Los Angeles County Health Department’s monkeypox dashboard said it has 35 of the cases.
Mercury News July 3, 2022 (edited for length)
Full article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07...ith-monkeypox-urges-others-to-get-vaccinated/
Matt Ford edits videos for a living, so it wasn’t a stretch for him to put one together for TikTok. But his latest post wasn’t a crazy dance or a video about how to peel a banana the right way.
It’s based on his own experience with monkeypox. His video has been watched about 250,000 times as of Friday afternoon. He posted it to help educate people about the virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated and to make it very clear: “You do not want this.”
...In the video (https://www.tiktok.com/@jmatthiasford/video/7113735791133658410?_t=8TW9CCEw2fe&_r=1), Ford talks about how the virus spreads, and shows some of his lesions.
Monkeypox spreads when someone has direct contact with a person’s infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It can also spread through respiratory secretions during prolonged face to face contact or by touching items that previously came into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has been affected, according to the CDC.
Ford said he had been vaguely aware of a monkeypox outbreak through Twitter, but hadn’t known how close he had gotten to the outbreak until a friend reached out to let him know Ford may have been exposed. Ford said he immediately started doing a fully body check.
“I noticed a few spots that I hadn’t noticed before,” said Ford, 30. He said the spots looked like pimples or ingrown hairs, so he went to a clinic in West Hollywood for a test. Ford said a doctor took a swab and a few days later the test came back positive for monkeypox. Ford said in reality, the test merely confirmed what he already knew. The spots he found no longer looked like pimples.
“They very quickly got bigger and would fill up,” he said and they were painful, particularly the spots in more sensitive areas. He said he also felt like he had the flu. People with monkeypox can develop a fever, headache, muscle pains, chills, swollen lymph nodes and feel tired. He said he also had night sweats, a sore throat and a cough.
Some of the lesions hurt so much that he went back to the doctor, who gave him pain medication. “That proved really useful because I was finally able to sleep through the night,” Ford said. “But even the painkillers did not fully numb it. It just made it kind of bearable enough that I could go back to sleep.”
In the video, Ford is plain spoken as he looks directly into camera and warns others. “Hi, my name is Matt. I have monkeypox, this sh*t sucks and you don’t want it,” Ford tells his viewers.
Giving a tour of some of his 25 lesions, he points to his face, his arms, and the spots on his abs. “These are really not cute,” he says for emphasis.
While the disease is more commonly found in Central and West Africa, this current outbreak has hit countries that have seen few, if any, cases in the past. As of Friday, there have been 460 probable or confirmed cases in the US alone, according to the CDC. The Los Angeles County Health Department’s monkeypox dashboard said it has 35 of the cases.
It's just another thing for the media to run with. They don't have enough to talk about already I guess.
Packerjohn
Packerjohn
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- Canada