Monkeypox

[AlterEgo]

what is MSM? I mean I am fairly broadminded and experienced guy but havent heard that before.

Men who have sex with men. It’s a clunky medical term used only when talking about certain conditions, and isn’t strictly linked to LGBT identity. It is an important description because of the level of risk involved with this activity.

Some men who do have sex with men also have sex with women (perhaps their wives, perhaps other women on the hookup scene).

 

[Pete_uk]

Facemasks would help.

 

[Cdd89]

Facemasks would help.

At least they would show that people are taking the threat seriously.

(I think a disposable glove mandate is more realistic!).

 

[ainsworth74]

They don't want mine anyway as it's full of rat poison, regardless of all that

You should probably speak to someone about that

 

[DarloRich]

Men who have sex with men. It’s a clunky medical term used only when talking about certain conditions, and isn’t strictly linked to LGBT identity. It is an important description because of the level of risk involved with this activity.

Some men who do have sex with men also have sex with women (perhaps their wives, perhaps other women on the hookup scene).

thanks to both you and @Bletchleyite that makes sense.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You should probably speak to someone about that

Um, it is also a blood thinner

 

[Ostrich]

I've not seen any mention of age data for those currently infected, and I'm wondering if it's predominantly the "younger" generation.
Routine childhood smallpox vaccination ended in the UK around 1971; would that still give a measure of protection against monkeypox?

 

[yorkie]

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and it may be that we need to go back to mass vaccination.

There's certainly no need for social distancing, lockdowns and - most laughable of all - flimsy masks.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and it may be that we need to go back to mass vaccination.

Indeed, I'd be more than happy to have the jab myself. Hoping I'll get a 4th COVID one, though I still nonetheless seem to be completely immune to it anyway, having been definitely exposed to it several times now and still not caught it.

 

[Eyersey468]

I am quite happy to have a smallpox vaccine myself, though I am holding off a Covid booster for as long as I can as I don't consider there to any real benefit to me, though at present being triple jabbed is a condition of travel with Leger who I am going to Auschwitz with next year, so I may have to get one for that.

 

[najaB]

Indeed, I'd be more than happy to have the jab myself. Hoping I'll get a 4th COVID one, though I still nonetheless seem to be completely immune to it anyway, having been definitely exposed to it several times now and still not caught it.

I thought you are old enough to have been among the last to have received it as a child, no?

Edit: Oh, wait never mind. I though that vaccination ended around the mid 1970s rather than the beginning.

 

[AlterEgo]

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and it may be that we need to go back to mass vaccination.

Possibly, although I think the government only ordered 20,000 vaccines recently in light of the outbreak, perhaps to vaccinate people in a targeted way?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I thought you are old enough to have been among the last to have received it as a child, no?

I don't think so though I have no idea where the records would be so maybe I did.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Facemasks would help.

Unlike COVID, which was easily transmittable via air, the Monkeypox (it's so hard to sound serious using such a daft name) is primarily transmitted via bodily fluids. Therefore, as long as you don't sneeze on someone, you're less likely to spread it. And to be honest, those not considerate enough to cover their mouths when sneezing aren't very likely to consider wearing a mask, are they? Masks would do nothing.

However - that's not to say some places won't randomly decide to mandate them again, having seen the dire extremes to which this was taken to in some cases with COVID. And I shall avoid such places accordingly.

 

[Eyersey468]

Unlike COVID, which was easily transmittable via air, the Monkeypox (it's so hard to sound serious using such a daft name) is primarily transmitted via bodily fluids. Therefore, as long as you don't sneeze on someone, you're less likely to spread it. And to be honest, those not considerate enough to cover their mouths when sneezing aren't very likely to consider wearing a mask, are they? Masks would do nothing.

However - that's not to say some places won't randomly decide to mandate them again, having seen the dire extremes to which this was taken to in some cases with COVID. And I shall avoid such places accordingly.

So will I

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I mention it because some people have latched onto the idea that self-isolation is about "Government control of the sheeple" rather than an effective, basic infection control practice that's been around for a century or more.

Because the Government now knows how effective it was as method of "controlling the sheeple" as you put it- even if that wasn't the original intent.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Covid lockdowns, trust in government is probably as low as it's ever been: largely as a result of the lockdowns, but even more so as a result of "lockdowns for thee, but not for me".

 

[PupCuff]

Interesting observations here. I've been following the whole saga with interest and so far the cases appear to trace back to three "superspreader" (was that even a term before covid?) events - two being key gay events attracting tens of thousands of gay men from across the world. While it's correct to say that men at those events would have been having sex, it would be equally fair to note that there would also be lots of men - often wearing very little - drinking, socialising and partying in very very crowded spaces.

I'm sure most members will have been to a busy nightclub or even a crowded pub and had to fight through a crowd to get to the bar or the loo; now imagine how much skin to skin contact there would be if you weren't wearing a shirt? One person with exposed monkeypox sores could potentially have come into contact with a significant number of people, in many cases that will have been so minor it did not result in an infection, in some cases, perhaps it may. I'm not sure it's fair to immediately assume the monkeypox virus is being 'sexually transmitted' in the same way we might see other more conventional STIs being.

I worry a little that the push towards boxing in Monkeypox as now being transmitted sexually risks distracting us from other potential routes of transmission - skin to skin contact again being a particular risk during summer as we see busy festivals, gay pride events, even crowded trains - and also can't help but feel the immediate go to if something is circulating primarily within gay men that it must be doing so via sexual transmission which feels in part driven by an unfair prejudice. What if the poor guy who passed it on first had gone to a 'straight' dance music rave rather than a gay party; we may well have seen this going in completely different circles.

I think we'll see in the coming weeks whether this turns into something or nothing. It could fizzle out of its own accord.

 

[najaB]

I worry a little that the push towards boxing in Monkeypox as now being transmitted sexually risks distracting us from other potential routes of transmission - skin to skin contact again being a particular risk during summer as we see busy festivals, gay pride events, even crowded trains - and also can't help but feel the immediate go to if something is circulating primarily within gay men that it must be doing so via sexual transmission which feels in part driven by an unfair prejudice. What if the poor guy who passed it on first had gone to a 'straight' dance music rave rather than a gay party; we may well have seen this going in completely different circles.

Agree with your sentiment.

There's a difference between something being transmitted during sex and being sexually transmitted.

 

[Ediswan]

Interesting observations here. I've been following the whole saga with interest and so far the cases appear to trace back to three "superspreader" (was that even a term before covid?) events

Yes. But the earliest reference I can find dates to the original SARS.

 

[PupCuff]

Yes. But the earliest reference I can find dates to the original SARS.

Ahhhh. Interesting!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Interesting observations here. I've been following the whole saga with interest and so far the cases appear to trace back to three "superspreader" (was that even a term before covid?) events - two being key gay events attracting tens of thousands of gay men from across the world.

I'm now wondering... what was the third event?

 

[Strathclyder]

I haven't really been following news of this outbreak. But, having read through this thread and news articles from trusted sources on the subject, I honestly don't think this will end up becoming another COVID. Even so, I'd be willing to get a smallpox vaccine if it was to be offered and if it meant safeguarding the health of my family and others.

I worry a little that the push towards boxing in Monkeypox as now being transmitted sexually risks distracting us from other potential routes of transmission - skin to skin contact again being a particular risk during summer as we see busy festivals, gay pride events, even crowded trains - and also can't help but feel the immediate go to if something is circulating primarily within gay men that it must be doing so via sexual transmission which feels in part driven by an unfair prejudice. What if the poor guy who passed it on first had gone to a 'straight' dance music rave rather than a gay party; we may well have seen this going in completely different circles.

Agreed with this, particularly the part in bold, being a gay man. The homophobic minority will - and no doubt have been in their seedy little corners of the internet - do their damndest to spread their vile BS beyond said corners using this outbreak as pretext. All the more reason to completely ignore them, both on the grounds of tolerance & decency and public health. Sadly, there are those who will listen to such tripe and who will take it and run with it all the way to the hills. They're a minority to be sure, but the minorities in this particular instance can often be louder than everyone else put together.

I think we'll see in the coming weeks whether this turns into something or nothing. It could fizzle out of its own accord.

Indeed. The next few weeks will be crucial in that respect. The cautious optimist in me hopes that it will end up being like the original SARS.

There's a difference between something being transmitted during sex and being sexually transmitted.

That there is, but just try telling that to the ignorant minorities. Talking to a brick wall would be more productive.

 

[brad465]

Smallpox vaccines are effective against monkeypox and it may be that we need to go back to mass vaccination.

There's certainly no need for social distancing, lockdowns and - most laughable of all - flimsy masks.

If those things were reintroduced for every outbreak of something we'll end up making ourselves extinct, not through deaths from these ailments but from the lack of opportunities for couples to form and have children.

 

[island]

I am due to attend the Mighty Hoopla festival this weekend. An advisory has been issued about the risk of monkeypox infection. The event tends to attract (I am not sure if this is the right word, no offence is intended) queer people, which has led to concerns.

 

[ainsworth74]

Feels like it is fizzling out a bit? I've not spotted any updates recently apart from Ireland apparently having their first case (hardly unexpected I'd think!). So far the response of "keep an eye on but no-one lose their head" seems to have been quite sensible!

 

[najaB]

I am due to attend the Mighty Hoopla festival this weekend. An advisory has been issued about the risk of monkeypox infection. The event tends to attract (I am not sure if this is the right word, no offence is intended) queer people, which has led to concerns.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about it, unless there's a mosh pit or similar.

So far the response of "keep an eye on but no-one lose their head" seems to have been quite sensible!

It seems that way, yes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I am due to attend the Mighty Hoopla festival this weekend. An advisory has been issued about the risk of monkeypox infection. The event tends to attract (I am not sure if this is the right word, no offence is intended) queer people, which has led to concerns.

It's worth emphasizing that it isn't a "gay disease", the reason it is affecting the gay community more is because some gay people tend to have more partners than straight people. It's not even an STD per-se, it transmits through skin to skin contact and the likes.

No need to run scared of anything with a rainbow on!

Feels like it is fizzling out a bit? I've not spotted any updates recently apart from Ireland apparently having their first case (hardly unexpected I'd think!). So far the response of "keep an eye on but no-one lose their head" seems to have been quite sensible!

It does seem, fortunately, like it is, yes. Has anyone even died of it in the UK yet? I don't think so.

 

[najaB]

It's worth emphasizing that it isn't a "gay disease", the reason it is affecting the gay community more is because some gay people tend to have more partners than straight people.

That's a tautology, no? After all some gay people have a lot of sexual partners, some have few, some have none.

It's more common among men who have sex with men because those men are more frequently intimate with other men than they are with women - meaning it's less likely to spread outside that community.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's a tautology, no? After all some gay people have a lot of sexual partners, some have few, some have none.

OK, "it's more common in the gay community to have multiple partners than in straight people". Largely because fewer gay people settle down with a family.

It's more common among men who have sex with men because those men are more frequently intimate with other men than they are with women - meaning it's less likely to spread outside that community.

There's that too. That was probably the main reason why HIV was to some extent incorrectly seen as a "gay disease" at the start.

 

[najaB]

OK, "it's more common in the gay community to have multiple partners than in straight people". Largely because fewer gay people settle down with a family.

OT for this thread, but I am not convinced that this is the case. The "with a family" part of it probably is - biology being biology - but I suspect that settling into long-term relationships is probably around the same level comparing straight and LGBTQ+ couples.