The next pandemic?

[Puppycow]

Reuters has this ambiguous headline:

Unlikely monkeypox outbreak will lead to pandemic, WHO says

How would you parse that?

Anyway, the story is:

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization does not believe the monkeypox outbreak outside Africa will lead to a pandemic, an official said on Monday, adding it remains unclear if infected people who are not displaying symptoms can transmit the disease.

More than 300 suspected and confirmed cases of monkeypox - a usually mild illness that spreads through close contact and can cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions - have been reported in May, mostly in Europe.

The strain of virus implicated in the outbreak is understood to kill a small fraction of those infected, but no deaths have been reported so far.

Am I right in assuming that because this is a "pox" disease, that vaccines are pretty effective at preventing it?

 

[angrysoba]

Michael Worobey is something of an expert in viruses, and he is reporting on work done by Aine O'Toole and Andrew Rambaut:

Key take home: current MPXV outbreak is very likely "just" a global expansion of a localized human outbreak that has been going on continuously since *at least 2017*

Link

 

[Planigale]

A brief update. Monkeypox doubling time in UK about 15 days. The at risk population remains GBMSM with 75% of cases in London. Mortality about 1/2,000 cases.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ypox-outbreak-in-england-technical-briefing-3

In Europe as a whole;

A total of 8238 cases of monkeypox have been identified through IHR mechanisms and official public resources up to 12 July 2022, 14:00, from 35 countries and areas throughout the European region. Case-based data were reported for 6900 cases from 29 countries and areas to ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe through The European Surveillance System (TESSy), up to 12 July 2022, 10:00.

Of the 6900 cases reported in TESSy, 6899 were laboratory confirmed. Furthermore, where sequencing was available, 130 were confirmed to be of the West African clade. The earliest date of symptom onset was reported as 03 April 2022. The majority of cases were between 31 and 40 years-old (2890/6892 - 42%) and male (6782/6818 - 99.5%). Among cases with known HIV status, 43% (561/1313) were HIV-positive. The majority of cases presented with a rash (3505/3683 - 95.2%) and systemic symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, sore throat or headache (2346/3683 - 64%). 183 cases were hospitalised (10.2%), of which 98 cases required clinical care. Three cases were admitted to ICU. No cases were reported to have died. Some (23) cases were reported to be health workers, however further investigation is ongoing to determine whether infection was due to occupational exposure.

https://monkeypoxreport.ecdc.europa.eu

US reports 1400 cases and running short of vaccine.

https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2...r-1400-monkeypox-cases-growing-vaccine-supply
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62188005

ETA given 45% are in HIV positive persons this implies prep isn't effective for monkeypox. It also flags the issue that although prep allows unprotected intercourse with a low risk of transmission of HIV, it leaves people vulnerable to other, including novel, STD. One might argue the switch to prep from safe sex is a probable contributor to the outbreak.

 

[Planigale]

WHO declares Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. I think the trigger is the spread from the GBMSM population, with some children being infected (and some health care workers*).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62279436

International update here.
https://www.who.int/news/item/23-07...rding-the-multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox

*You will be reassured to know that your very own Planigale has been genetically modified to fight not only SARS-CoV-2 but Monkeypox and Smallpox and FWIW Chickenpox.

 

[Dr.Sid]

Ourworlindata has monkeypox page .. with only number of cases being tracked now.

https://ourworldindata.org/monkeypox

 

[Samson]

WHO declares Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. I think the trigger is the spread from the GBMSM population, with some children being infected (and some health care workers*).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62279436

International update here.
https://www.who.int/news/item/23-07...rding-the-multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox

*You will be reassured to know that your very own Planigale has been genetically modified to fight not only SARS-CoV-2 but Monkeypox and Smallpox and FWIW Chickenpox.

Yes reassured.
You are an indispensable forum pet who will provide vital insight into this new pandemic.
Thank you in advance.

 

[angrysoba]

WHO declares Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern.

I don’t know. Who declares Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern?

I think the trigger is the spread from the GBMSM population, with some children being infected (and some health care workers*).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62279436

International update here.
https://www.who.int/news/item/23-07...rding-the-multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox

*You will be reassured to know that your very own Planigale has been genetically modified to fight not only SARS-CoV-2 but Monkeypox and Smallpox and FWIW Chickenpox.

Is the last one with the varicella vaccine or does the monkeypox vaccine take care of it?

In Japan, chickenpox is a routine vaccine, but apparently not in the UK. This is strange to me but looking it up it seems it is only recommended to vaccinate in countries where a very high proportion of the population can get vaccinated. Surprised if this cannot be done in the UK.

 

[Planigale]

I don’t know. Who declares Monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern?




Is the last one with the varicella vaccine or does the monkeypox vaccine take care of it?

In Japan, chickenpox is a routine vaccine, but apparently not in the UK. This is strange to me but looking it up it seems it is only recommended to vaccinate in countries where a very high proportion of the population can get vaccinated. Surprised if this cannot be done in the UK.

Anyone who cares for pregnant women or children in the NHS and who hasn't had natural infection is vaccinated against chickenpox. So most healthcare workers who do not have antibodies are vaccinated.

The reason for not routinely vaccinating children in the UK is because of the concern that this would shift the infection into an older population who would get more severe disease, particularly women of childbearing age.

 

[Puppycow]

The reason for not routinely vaccinating children in the UK is because of the concern that this would shift the infection into an older population who would get more severe disease, particularly women of childbearing age.

I don't understand. Wouldn't they be vulnerable anyway if children aren't vaccinated?

Or is the idea that you want the virus to be more prevalent so that everyone gets it in childhood? Is this because of anti-vaxxers ultimately? I think if 100% of children were vaccinated, this "shifting" would not be a concern.



Anyway, I think this was already known, but now there's a study:
Monkeypox is being driven overwhelmingly by sex between men, major study finds

Overwhelmingly meaning 95% of cases are believed to be transmitted that way.

No one has died of monkeypox infection outside of Africa during this outbreak. And for many people, the disease is relatively mild and resolves on its own in a few weeks without any need for medical intervention. However, the new paper reports that monkeypox can cause pain so intense that a substantial proportion of people with the virus require hospitalization for pain management.

“We have seen patients with severe rectal pain that worsens every time they go to the bathroom, genital pain every time they urinate and throat pain every time they swallow,” said Dr. Jason Zucker, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University Department of Medicine.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I don't understand. Wouldn't they be vulnerable anyway if children aren't vaccinated?

Or is the idea that you want the virus to be more prevalent so that everyone gets it in childhood? Is this because of anti-vaxxers ultimately? I think if 100% of children were vaccinated, this "shifting" would not be a concern.
....

It's actually an economic problem. If you vaccinate kids you might be delaying the infection rather than giving the vaccinee lifetime immunity. In countries that have decent vaccine coverage, should the need for boosters arise, boosters will likely be available.

It's my understanding the NHS decided to forego the expense of vaccinating the whole population when so few kids have serious disease.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine/

In the US given the disease can be severe even in children, we opted to vaccinate everyone and give them boosters later in life if they need it.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/varicella/index.html

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I was trying to find something on how different decisions came about and found this:

BBC News: Why don't we vaccinate against chickenpox?

... all debates about childhood vaccines still take place under the shadow of the upset over the measles, mumps and rubella jab (MMR), sparked by a now discredited research paper over a decade ago.

Despite international confirmation of its safety, a small number of parents still refuse to give their child the jab - and many in the medical community believe this explains the reluctance of the authorities to introduce a brand new injection into the childhood immunisation schedule.

"This is what it's really all about," says Professor Adam Finn, consultant in paediatric infectious diseases at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

That's not all it is about though in the UK it might be partially the reason.

If you look back ~25 years you'll find the debate really was about the cost benefit analysis. In the US we mandate 3rd party payers cover routine vaccines. But for pediatric vaccines, the government will pick up the vaccine cost as long as we providers then only charge a fixed amount for administering the shots.

One argument put forward in the US was the toll varicella takes in the workforce. Your kid gets sick then you have to stay home with them for a week. Very few daycares will take kids with chicken pox. In addition the cost burden of hospitalization was also factored in.

It would be interesting to see how each country fared now that the vaccine has been used routinely here for a couple decades while the UK doesn't use it in all kids.

 

[Planigale]

I don't understand. Wouldn't they be vulnerable anyway if children aren't vaccinated?

Or is the idea that you want the virus to be more prevalent so that everyone gets it in childhood? Is this because of anti-vaxxers ultimately? I think if 100% of children were vaccinated, this "shifting" would not be a concern.



Anyway, I think this was already known, but now there's a study:
Monkeypox is being driven overwhelmingly by sex between men, major study finds

Overwhelmingly meaning 95% of cases are believed to be transmitted that way.

If vaccine uptake is incomplete you get an increased number of young adults who never had chickenpox as children, and are vulnerable because they were not vaccinated as children, risking an increase in severe chicken pox in adults. Naturally circulating chickenpox will boost immunity in adults providing protection against shingles. The vaccination has to clearly provide a nett health benefit if it is to be introduced. Economic arguments about reducing the need for parents to take time off work would not be considered (within the NHS system). There would have been a variety of models looked at for instance;

Two possible dangers of an extensive varicella vaccination program are more varicella (chickenpox) cases in adults, when the complication rates are higher, and an increase in cases of zoster (shingles). Here an age-structured epidemiologic–demographic model with vaccination is developed for varicella and zoster. Parameters are estimated from epidemiological data. This mathematical and computer simulation model is used to evaluate the effects of varicella vaccination programs. Although the age distribution of varicella cases does shift in the simulations, this does not seem to be a danger because many of the adult cases occur after vaccine-induced immunity wanes, so they are mild varicella cases with fewer complications. In the simulations, zoster incidence increases in the first three decades after initiation of a vaccination program, because people who had varicella in childhood age without boosting, but then it decreases. Thus the simulations validate the second danger of more zoster cases.

Modeling the Effects of Varicella Vaccination Programs on the Incidence of Chickenpox and Shingles. Matthew C.Schuette, Herbert W.Hethcote.
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 61, (6) 1999, 1031-1064

Adoption of varicella vaccination in Europe is limited due to its unclear effects on herpes zoster.

•New perspectives of HZ control are offered by new subunit recombinant zoster vaccine.

•We used mathematical modeling to investigate a complete range of vaccination strategies.

•Given uncertainty on boosting, targeted vaccination of adolescents is a viable strategy.

Modeling the impact of combined vaccination programs against varicella and herpes zoster in Norway
SabinaMarchettia, GiorgioGuzzetta et al
Vaccine 36, (8), 2018, 1116-1125


So the argument is that though childhood vaccination will result in more shingles this negative impact can be ameliorated by also introducing a shingles vaccination for adults.

 

[Planigale]

Worryingly a new outbreak of mpox has arisen, based in DRC. Unlike the previous outbreak that occurred a couple of years ago this is clade 1 which is much more virulent, with a 10% mortality similar to variola (smallpox) minor.

Unlike previous cases of clade 1 this now seems endemic and sexually transmissible. The animal origin is uncertain and the adaption to humans will no doubt lead to claims it is an escapee of a genetically modified virus.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/mpox/dr-congo-mpox-outbreak-expands-becomes-deadlier
https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.11.2400106
This is occurring at the same time as there are outbreaks of the milder clade 2 elsewhere.
Virginia
https://www.rttnews.com/3434979/mpox-outbreak-on-the-rise-in-virginia.aspx
Canada
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-public-health-reporting-spike-in-mpox-infections-1.6815067

 

[The Atheist]

Worryingly a new outbreak of mpox has arisen, based in DRC. Unlike the previous outbreak that occurred a couple of years ago this is clade 1 which is much more virulent, with a 10% mortality similar to variola (smallpox) minor.

That's not good news, 10% is shockingly high.

Unlike previous cases of clade 1 this now seems endemic and sexually transmissible.

As long as it remains transmissable only when symptomatic, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

[Planigale]

That's not good news, 10% is shockingly high.



As long as it remains transmissable only when symptomatic, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I applaud your rational view about decision making around sexual congress. I fear the reality is that persons with symptoms will continue to have sexual desires.

 

[The Atheist]

I applaud your rational view about decision making around sexual congress. I fear the reality is that persons with symptoms will continue to have sexual desires.

I'm certain they will. I'm equally certain that if it's consensual sex they're old enough to weigh the risks and act accordingly.

If they don't, my level of caring is zero. To me, it's identical to clowns who choose not to wear a seatbelt or motorbike helmet, or who do use wingsuits - if you're doing something dangerous and accept your risk, I don't give a damn if they die from mpox or AIDS or end splattered against a rock wall.

When we have kids being blown apart, what people do knowing the risks are immaterial to me.

 

[The Atheist]

And here it is:

In the U.S., mpox still remains largely contained to the social networks of men who have sex with men, not yet becoming a pathogen of concern for the general public. But Varma warned that this could change, pointing to the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where heterosexual encounters between men and sex workers are a major vector of transmission.

Yet...

A study released by the CDC last year found that two-thirds of people eligible for mpox vaccination remained unimmunized.

Concern level 0 continues.

 

[dudalb]

What is the fatality rate of Monkey pox?

 

[The Atheist]

The fatality rate of the currently-circulating version is less than 0.1%

 

[Planigale]

What is the fatality rate of Monkey pox?

However, the new clade 1 circulating in Africa (DRC) has a mortality of 10%. This was previously a sporadic zoonosis; it has moved to being sexually transmissible (and contagious - there are a number of child deaths thought to be familial non-sexual transmission), and now seems to be endemic in humans. The concern is that as we move into pride season this more virulent form of mpox may begin to circulate outside of Africa.

 

[Planigale]

Mpox is spreading in Africa.

WHO on alert as mpox cases surge to unprecedented levels in Africa
The continent is witnessing an “unprecedented” spike in mpox cases since January, with 15 countries reporting outbreaks. As of Thursday, 2030 cases and 13 deaths were confirmed this year, compared with 1,145 cases and seven deaths in the whole of 2023.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/0..._term=0_fdbf1af606-1c85e7ef11-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]

Africa CDC to Declare First-Ever Continental Health Emergency as Mpox Surges
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) plans to declare mpox a public health emergency of continental concern next week, marking the first such declaration in the agency’s history.

The decision follows a surge in mpox cases across Africa in 2024, matching 2023’s total in just six months. Since January 2022, over 38,000 cases and 1,456 deaths have been reported. This year, 10 African Union states have recorded more than 14,000 cases and 450 deaths, with 2,750 confirmed — 160% higher than the same period in 2023.

Recent outbreaks in Ivory Coast, Kenya and Uganda highlight the virus’s expanding reach. Mpox infections in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are the first on record in these countries.

A new variant of the mpox virus, known as clade 1b, is fueling the outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has spread to neighboring countries. The DRC, where mpox was first detected in 1970 and remains endemic, bears the brunt of this outbreak, accounting for more than 96% of both cases and deaths.

https://healthpolicy-watch.news/afr...-continental-health-emergency-as-mpox-surges/

Outbreak report, 30 Jul 2024: Mpox situation in Africa
--------------------------------------------------
Mpox in Africa: Since the beginning of 2022 and as of 28 Jul 2024, a total of 37 583 cases and 1451 deaths (case fatality rate [CFR]: 3.9%) of mpox have been reported from 15 African Union Member States (AU MS): Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ghana, Liberia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, and South Africa (see table 1 [download at source URL]). In 2023 alone, 14 957 cases and 739 deaths (CFR: 4.9%) were reported from 7 AU MS. This is a 78.5% increase in the number of new cases compared to 2022.

Since the beginning of this year and as of 28 Jul 2024, a total of 14 250 cases (2745 confirmed; 11 505 suspected) and 456 deaths (CFR: 3.2%) of mpox have been reported from 10 AU MS: Burundi (8 cases; 0 deaths), Cameroon (35; 2), CAR (213; 0), Congo (146; 1), DRC (13 791; 450), Ghana (4; 0), Liberia (5; 0), Nigeria (24; 0), Rwanda (2; 0), and South Africa (22; 3). This represents a 160% and 19% increase in the number of cases and deaths, respectively, in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. DRC accounts for 96.3% of all cases and 97% of all deaths reported this year. [2024] In addition, Chad has reported 24 suspected cases and no confirmed case this year.

https://promedmail.org/

https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2024/han00513.asp

 

[Orphia Nay]

WHO declares Global Health Emergency again.

"The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent."

"Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University, said the last WHO emergency declaration for mpox “did very little to move the needle” on getting things like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to Africa.

“The world has a real opportunity here to act in a decisive manner and not repeat past mistakes, (but) that will take more than an (emergency) declaration,” Titanji said."

https://apnews.com/article/cc9bdf31b49d06bec5efd44fb55d5e42

 

[Dr.Sid]

Watch the world do not only repeat past mistakes, but double down on them.

 

[Orphia Nay]

Watch the world do not only repeat past mistakes, but double down on them.

Indeed. "We will not comply" is trending on Twitter/X (along with "Monkey Pox"). Idiots.

 

[catsmate]

There's also 'sloth fever'.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/explained/what-is-sloth-fever-and-can-i-catch-it-1661272.html

 

[Planigale]

The issue is that this is effectively a smallpox outbreak. The virus is now as transmissible as smallpox and probably as fatal. (Mpox is closely related to smallpox and initially smallpox vaccine was used to control it.)

For clarification this is a completely different viral strain from the mpox that caused problems round the world in 2022. It appears more transmissible and more dangerous. For the conspiracy buffs the animal origin has not been identified and it appears adapted to humans so I am sure we will hear how it is the result of a laboratory leak / genetic modification / a scare to promote vaccination with microchips.

 

[Planigale]

There's also 'sloth fever'.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/explained/what-is-sloth-fever-and-can-i-catch-it-1661272.html

The worrying thing about this (particularly if you live in Scotland) is that it is spread by biting midges. If it gets into the midge population it will be a disaster.

 

[Planigale]

WHO declares Global Health Emergency again.

"The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent."

"Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University, said the last WHO emergency declaration for mpox “did very little to move the needle” on getting things like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to Africa.

“The world has a real opportunity here to act in a decisive manner and not repeat past mistakes, (but) that will take more than an (emergency) declaration,” Titanji said."

https://apnews.com/article/cc9bdf31b49d06bec5efd44fb55d5e42

The reason for the declaration is that this strain of mpox has now been identified in Europe.

 

[dann]

Swedish officials said the patient was infected during a stay in a part of Africa where clade 1 is circulating and was diagnosed with that variant after seeking care in the Stockholm region. That patient has received care, said Magnus Gisslen, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
Sweden detects mpox variant for the first time outside of Africa (WaPo, Aug 15, 2024)

I guess we can only hope that Magnus Gisslén and the Public Health Agency of Sweden won't adopt the herd-immunity-by-infection strategy this time.

Swedish officials said the risk to the public is considered low, in line with an assessment from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. But they said a new assessment is expected soon, with occasional cases related to travel anticipated.
Public health officials have stressed that the highest death rates associated with clade 1 versions may reflect infections striking more vulnerable people, including children, in areas with weak health-care systems, rather than differences in the virus. The emergence of clade 1b has raised concerns because it is spreading sexually, the most efficient way for the virus to transmit and cross borders.

That's what they said about about SARS-CoV-2 in 2020, too: Old people in Sweden weren't nearly as frail as those in Italy, so it would never be a problem in Sweden. Children, on the other hand, were immune, didn't spread the virus, but schools should be kept open to make sure that herd immunity was achieved as fast as possible.

I wonder if the Swedes are doing any contract tracing this time. The article doesn't say so.

 

[alfaniner]

The worrying thing about this (particularly if you live in Scotland) is that it is spread by biting midges. If it gets into the midge population it will be a disaster.

"Oh, Allan! Why did you have to go and get your wife pregnant? Now she's a threat to the entire world!"

(obligatory Barbie reference)

 

[Orphia Nay]

The reason for the declaration is that this strain of mpox has now been identified in Europe.

No, the declaration came a day earlier than the first Swedish case.

 

[Planigale]

No, the declaration came a day earlier than the first Swedish case.

Do you think that WHO didn't know about the Swedish and Pakistan cases before they were publicly announced? To be a public health emergency of international concern the virus has to have spread beyond its' local area.

 

[dann]

Bavarian Nordic får stor kontrakt på mpox-vaccine til europæisk land (DR.dk, Aug 31, 2024)
Bavarian Nordic gets a big order for mpox vaccine from European country

"440.000 doses of mpox vaccines for unnamed European country."

I think I can guess the name of the country!

 

[Mikemcc]

I suspect "gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men".

Yet more contorted language. Bisexuality is a spectrum that fits everyone apart from fully Gay and fully Hetero. I am assuming that the 'other men' bit is dealing with guys who use other men for BJs but are otherwise Hetero. Sorry, but they are Bi, just at the Hetero end of the the spectrum. It's already covered by the GB part of LGBTQ+. As a Bi man on the Hetero end, it annoys me when we try to convolute ourselves over this for some faux compliance to 'to 'do not upset anyone'. We already cover this without further labels. If the label is there to cover Trans Men, it is still covered by the GBT part of LGBTQ+.

Sorry, I hope I have not upset anyone with my rant. This the first time I have come across this GBMSM label and had to go and look up the meaning. If an acronym isn't understood by someone in that community then it is pointless and annoying, especially when there are pre-existing labels that are well understood.

On top of this, it ignores other groups - particularly women in relationships with Bi or Trans men.

 

[dann]

Asia ramps up border controls, tests and vaccines as new clade of mpox spreads (Telegraph, Aug 21, 2024)
China, India, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Uganda.

Europe Does Not Need Border Controls to Contain Mpox Spread, Health Authorities Say (Schengen News, Aug 20, 2024)
Do we go for 'super immunity' or 'hybrid immunity' this time?!

 

[Darat]

Yet more contorted language. Bisexuality is a spectrum that fits everyone apart from fully Gay and fully Hetero. I am assuming that the 'other men' bit is dealing with guys who use other men for BJs but are otherwise Hetero. Sorry, but they are Bi, just at the Hetero end of the the spectrum. It's already covered by the GB part of LGBTQ+. As a Bi man on the Hetero end, it annoys me when we try to convolute ourselves over this for some faux compliance to 'to 'do not upset anyone'. We already cover this without further labels. If the label is there to cover Trans Men, it is still covered by the GBT part of LGBTQ+.

Sorry, I hope I have not upset anyone with my rant. This the first time I have come across this GBMSM label and had to go and look up the meaning. If an acronym isn't understood by someone in that community then it is pointless and annoying, especially when there are pre-existing labels that are well understood.

On top of this, it ignores other groups - particularly women in relationships with Bi or Trans men.

Your rant is misinformed.

It’s a term that came about during the AIDS epidemic, it is not a term a community uses such as LGBT, it’s a term mainly used in the medical professions and others wanting to reach out to all males that have sex with males. It was found that health messages targeted at gay and bisexual men were not reaching a segment of the male population that had sex with other males. These males do not consider themselves gay or bisexual, they are not part of “the LGBT community” so when health professionals need to target men who have sex with men they need to be mindful of this group of males and especially be mindful of how to get health messages to them.

I find it a quite fascinating insight into human behaviour and how culture is mediated and by feedback then shapes society. Considering yourself to be “gay” or “bisexual” is relatively modern - came into being in the 1970s.

ETA: There is a Wikipedia entry if you are interested in learning more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_who_have_sex_with_men

 

[Planigale]

Your rant is misinformed.

It’s a term that came about during the AIDS epidemic, it is not a term a community uses such as LGBT, it’s a term mainly used in the medical professions and others wanting to reach out to all males that have sex with males. It was found that health messages targeted at gay and bisexual men were not reaching a segment of the male population that had sex with other males. These males do not consider themselves gay or bisexual, they are not part of “the LGBT community” so when health professionals need to target men who have sex with men they need to be mindful of this group of males and especially be mindful of how to get health messages to them.

I find it a quite fascinating insight into human behaviour and how culture is mediated and by feedback then shapes society. Considering yourself to be “gay” or “bisexual” is relatively modern - came into being in the 1970s.

ETA: There is a Wikipedia entry if you are interested in learning more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_who_have_sex_with_men

Thank you. Yes, it is widely used in the medical world, where there is more concern with the act than the emotions behind the act.

 

[dann]

Targets of Swedish mpox vaccinatons:

* Sweden's Public Health Agency has updated its guidance on who should be offered the mpox vaccine.
* Healthcare workers, aid sector workers and others who plan to travel to a place where the virus is spreading are now being recommended the vaccine.
* State epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén says the majority of travellers however do not need an mpox vaccination.
Sweden widens its mpox vaccine recommendations (Radio Sweden, Aug 23, 2024)

 

[The Atheist]

Chinese fur farms shove mpox aside with a snigger as they stomp H5N1 into the dirt.

"We got this next pandemic thing!"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07901-3

 

[dann]

The Nature study was conducted in China by an international team of researchers:

Summary
A study led by Uppsala University found 36 previously unknown viruses in fur-bred animals, including mink and red foxes. The research, published in Nature, uncovered 125 virus species, with 39 posing high risks for cross-species transmission. Findings underscore the need for increased monitoring to prevent zoonotic disease outbreaks.
Fur Industry Animals Harbor 36 Previously Unknown Viruses (TechnologyNetworks: immunology, Sep 5, 2024)

There's a troubling array of viruses present in fur-farmed animals across China, with several showing a high risk of crossing over to humans, new research in the journal Nature has unveiled.
(...)
In response to the findings, the research team advocates for regular and transparent surveillance of fur farms.
"This would have to be adapted to the situation of a specific farm and the country it operates in," Pettersson said.
However, implementation may prove challenging. "Cost will undoubtedly be a limiting factor, whether for the testing itself or the associated logistics," he said.
Pettersson added, "The other thing, I guess, is if we should have these fur farms to begin with."
Pandemic Fears as Dozens of 'High Risk' Viruses Found in China's Fur Farms (Newsweek, Sep 5, 2024)

I really wish those mink farms had remained closed down and outlawed:

The research echoes previous warnings about the risks of fur farming, a practice linked to viral cross-species transmission. In response to similar concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark instituted a mass mink cull in 2020, though the country has since reauthorized mink farming.