Monkeypox 2022

[rsvman]

I had to ask.

Was largepox ever a thing?

Pretty sure the name comes from a Latin root word that means 'spotted,' as in 'having spots.'

On a tangential note, the name chickenpox likely derives from the Old English word 'gican,' which means 'itchy.'

[rsvman]

Well, just saw my first case of monkeypox in a 14-year-old boy this week. Went to an Urgent Care center with the skin lesions. Essentially no other symptoms. No idea where he got it, but he is a 14-year-old boy and just may have not answered completely honestly to some of the risk factor questions.

We unroofed a few lesions and swabbed the base of them; swabs were sent off to the Health Department for PCR testing and came back positive, so it's not just a clinical diagnosis.

We will see how many others show up in the next few weeks...

[mph]

I’ve seen several recent articles arguing that public health authorities should be more directly communicating the risk of Monkeypox transmission as a STI. Here’s an article from Vox and another from NBC. Both cite credible studies that suggest that Monkeypox is overwhelming spreading through sexual contact and that unprotected sexual acts, not skin to skin contact is driving infections.

Emphasizing skin to skin contact and understating the risk of sexual transmission will cause some people to underestimate and others to overestimate their risk. It also doesn’t properly emphasize the role of condoms in transmission prevention or the importance of getting vaccines to communities at highest risk.

[TrickDribbles99]

The US is now the world leader in monkeypox with nearly 16,000 cases. Spain is a distant 2nd with just over 6,000 cases.

For perspective, the group of nations that typically deal with monkeypox outbreaks (Nigeria, Congo, Ghana and a few others) only have about 400 active cases right now. Likely owing to the huge disparity in medical facilities, the African nations are suffering far more deaths from monkeypox. I haven't heard of any deaths in the US, but of course that could change.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

The US is now the world leader in monkeypox with nearly 16,000 cases. Spain is a distant 2nd with just over 6,000 cases.

For perspective, the group of nations that typically deal with monkeypox outbreaks (Nigeria, Congo, Ghana and a few others) only have about 400 active cases right now. Likely owing to the huge disparity in medical facilities, the African nations are suffering far more deaths from monkeypox. I haven't heard of any deaths in the US, but of course that could change.

We seem to really revel in our ability to lead the world with infectious disease.

[-jk]

The US is now the world leader in monkeypox with nearly 16,000 cases. Spain is a distant 2nd with just over 6,000 cases.

For perspective, the group of nations that typically deal with monkeypox outbreaks (Nigeria, Congo, Ghana and a few others) only have about 400 active cases right now. Likely owing to the huge disparity in medical facilities, the African nations are suffering far more deaths from monkeypox. I haven't heard of any deaths in the US, but of course that could change.

How is that per capita?

-jk

[Acymetric]

How is that per capita?

-jk

US population: 333M
Nigeria population: 218M

So, without bothering you dive further than that or even doing the (simple) math, easy to see that the per capita numbers aren't going to be our saving grace here.

[Phredd3]

US population: 333M
Nigeria population: 218M

So, without bothering you dive further than that or even doing the (simple) math, easy to see that the per capita numbers aren't going to be our saving grace here.

Pretty sure jk was referring to Spain, which has a similar democratic/developed structure to the U.S. I'm not sure reported numbers for a place like Nigeria and anywhere close to accurate.

[-jk]

Pretty sure jk was referring to Spain, which has a similar democratic/developed structure to the U.S. I'm not sure reported numbers for a place like Nigeria and anywhere close to accurate.

Yes, thanks. I was interested in the Spain comparison.

-jk

[Acymetric]

Pretty sure jk was referring to Spain, which has a similar democratic/developed structure to the U.S. I'm not sure reported numbers for a place like Nigeria and anywhere close to accurate.

Reminder that the 400 number (actually slightly less, see the link) is for that entire region, not just Nigeria.

https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeyp...world-map.html

How many orders of magnitude are you suggesting the numbers from Africa are off by?

[Phredd3]

US population: 333M, or 0.04 per 1000 population
Spain population: 47M, or 0.12 per 1000 population

So, without bothering you dive further than that or even doing the (simple) math, easy to see that the per capita numbers favor the U.S., at least for now.

Doing the math.

To answer your question about Nigeria, I don't have any specific knowledge about how accurate the numbers are. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the numbers are off by an order of magnitude, but I don't know that to be the case by any means. What I do know is that I didn't pull my skepticism out of thin air. An order of magnitude or more of error, according to this article, would not be unusual.

I could speculate about other possible reasons for the apparent favorable numbers, but I will refrain. Suffice it to say that I agree that Spain is a better comp for how well the U.S. is or is not doing.

[Acymetric]

Doing the math.

To answer your question about Nigeria, I don't have any specific knowledge about how accurate the numbers are. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the numbers are off by an order of magnitude, but I don't know that to be the case by any means. What I do know is that I didn't pull my skepticism out of thin air. An order of magnitude or more of error, according to this article, would not be unusual.

I could speculate about other possible reasons for the apparent favorable numbers, but I will refrain. Suffice it to say that I agree that Spain is a better comp for how well the U.S. is or is not doing.

If the numbers are off by an order of magnitude they would still be considerably better than the per capita numbers in the US or Spain (which was my point). If you're doing the math you should do all of it.

Also, please refrain from editing the content of my post to say something other than what I said when you quote me. Thanks.

[Phredd3]

Also, please refrain from editing the content of my post to say something other than what I said when you quote me. Thanks.

Apologies for that. I couldn't recall the correct tag for striking. Accordingly, I used color, instead. I should have started over.