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Medicine

This Is Not the Monkeypox That Doctors Thought They Knew (yahoo.com) 97

Posted by EditorDavid from the disease-differences dept.
"At the onset of the outbreak, scientists thought they knew when and how the monkeypox virus was spread, what the disease looked like and who was most vulnerable," remembers the New York Times.

"The 47,000 cases identified worldwide have upended many of those expectations." Some had headaches or depression, confusion and seizures. Others had severe eye infections or inflammation of the heart muscle. At least three of the six deaths reported so far were linked to encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. "We really are seeing a very, very wide range of presentation," said Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious disease physician at a clinic in Atlanta that serves people living with H.I.V. Scientists now know that the monkeypox virus lurks in saliva, semen and other bodily fluids, sometimes for weeks after recovery. The virus has always been known to spread through close contact, but many researchers suspect the infection may also be transmitted through sex itself....

"It's no longer correct to say it can't be transmitted asymptomatically," said Dr. Chloe Orkin, an infectious disease physician at Queen Mary University of London. "I think that it means that our working model of how it's spread is incorrect."

Early in the outbreak, [America's Centers for Disease Control] said that "people who do not have monkeypox symptoms cannot spread the virus to others." The agency changed that phrasing on July 29 to say that "scientists are still researching" the possibility of asymptomatic transmission. In a statement to The New York Times, an agency spokeswoman acknowledged recent evidence that asymptomatic cases were possible but said that it was still uncertain whether people without symptoms could spread the virus and that more research was needed.
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This Is Not the Monkeypox That Doctors Thought They Knew More

This Is Not the Monkeypox That Doctors Thought They Knew

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  • So the origins of this "Monkeypox" has nothing to do with monkeys, The Monkees, or wild animals in Africa?

  • This Is Not the Monkeypox That Doctors Thought They Knew

    You can go about your business ...

  • Need to learn (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jarik C-Bol ( 894741 ) on Saturday August 27, 2022 @03:30PM (#62828411)
    The CDC needs to learn to quit using definitive statements like:

    "people who do not have monkeypox symptoms cannot spread the virus to others."

    during the early stages of new disease outbreaks and learn to use statements like:

    Current evidence suggests (X hypotheses) however further research is needed at this time.

    This would sure help them stop looking like complete ignoramuses in front of the general public.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by WaffleMonster ( 969671 )

      during the early stages of new disease outbreaks and learn to use statements like:

      It's not a new disease.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        You misparsed "new (disease outbreak)" as "(new disease) outbreak".

      • It's not a new disease.

        The whole point of the summary is that it's behaving like a new disease, or at least not how they thought.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          They know that NOW. They had little reason to expect that before.

          That's the nature of things. We draw conclusions from the best data available. When more data comes in. We must revise our conclusions.

          It is the height of stupidity to stubbornly cling to old conclusions in the face of new and conflicting data. That's what too many politicians do.

      • correct, it is not a new disease.
        However, it is a 'new disease outbreak'.
        Parse that out. One could say the Delta is now an old outbreak of covid.

    • Re:Need to learn (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ed Tice ( 3732157 ) on Saturday August 27, 2022 @08:32PM (#62828813)
      The CDC is dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. If they don't speak with confidence, nobody will take recommendations seriously. If they do speak with confidence, the conspiracy theorists will use it to undermine them. The difference between the folks at the CDC and talk radio hosts is that the "current evidence suggests.." part is *implicit* in any of their statements as CDC scientists are open to the possibility of new data challenging their conclusions where the conspiracy theorists will just add another layer of conspiracy. Since we can't all be experts in everything we need actual experts in various areas.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by sjames ( 1099 )

      The CDC needs to learn to quit using definitive statements like:...

      Current evidence suggests (X hypotheses) however further research is needed at this time.

      Or more likely, the general public says "OOOH, listen to Mr. Fancypants with his ten dollar words!", then the press "summarizes" it to: "if you have no symptoms, you can't spread the disease".

    • A hypothe what? I don't understand. Why are you using complex words. Just tell me if the person is infectious or not.

      Sincerely
      The people, many of us who are underedumakated.

      Also there's nothing new about monkeypox. It was discovered 50 years ago. The fact that evidence shows it changed slightly should not preclude giving medical advice based on all available information.

      • Evidently I should have phrased it as ‘new outbreak of a disease’ as many people are parsing it as ‘(new disease) outbreak’ rather than (new) disease outbreak’.
        I am well aware monkeypox is not new.

  • Big twist (Score:3)

    by real_nickname ( 6922224 ) on Saturday August 27, 2022 @04:49PM (#62828507)

    This Is Not the Monkeypox That Doctors Thought They Knew

    They knew almost nothing about Monkeypox until now because of the low number of cases and almost 0 case happening in western countries.

    • Except they knew damn well that casual contact was not a spreader event because there were 0 cases of human to human transmission in the 2003 US outbreak. All were from animal bites/scratches and contact with bedding full of piss and shit.

    • They knew almost nothing about Monkeypox until now because of the low number of cases and almost 0 case happening in western countries.

      Monkeypox has been endemic in many countries, and even the USA had an outbreak in 2003. It's a disease that has been studied for 50 years. There have been thousands of cases known and studied prior to this outbreak.

      There are many diseases not present in the west for which we know a lot, have vaccines, treatments, and cures available, because (and this may really shock you), not everyone in the world is as self-centered or self important as you think "the west" is.

      Please get a clue before you talk.

      • Monkeypox has been endemic in many countries, and even the USA had an outbreak in 2003.

        Yeah 73 cases... Clearly not enough to know if generic symptoms such as headache and depression are linked to this deseas. And I bet people are too poor to be able to care about this in most african countries.

        not everyone in the world is as self-centered or self important as you think "the west" is.

        I said it's about money not about which country is important to me. And Now for Something Completely Different, I wonder why you can't express your pov without being agressive.

  • "suspect" sex????? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Saturday August 27, 2022 @08:31PM (#62828807)

    many researchers suspect the infection may also be transmitted through sex itself.

    Come on, Monkeypox victims today are 95% gay males [nbcnews.com].

    That's a slam dunk correlation to say it's PRIMARILY being spread through sex.

    As a side note I would argue this is also partly because men are kind of disgusting when it comes to sex and are fine with a partner than has open sores, whereas almost all women take one look at any monkeypox sore and say "Hell No" so they are mostly OK so far.

    • Come on, Monkeypox victims today are 95% gay males

      WRONG. Gay and bisexual are not the same. The literature is talking about men who have sex with men precisely for this reason.

      That's a slam dunk correlation to say it's PRIMARILY being spread through sex.

      WRONG. Men who have sex with men are also more likely to kiss, fondle, finger etc multiple partners. At the very least we should reserve judgement until more evidence rolls in. If close contact is all that is needed and superkendall-like researchers have discounted that possibility, then we'll be fucked if it hits childcare / etc.

      men are kind of disgusting when it comes to sex and are fine with a partner than has open sores, whereas almost all women take

      WRONG. Women also suppress feelings of revulsion wh [www.rug.nl]

  • In short, lay off the orgies. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Chas ( 5144 ) on Saturday August 27, 2022 @09:30PM (#62828899) Homepage Journal

    Wow!

    Wotta concept!

  • Not detracting from the seriousness of it all, but for some reason when I read "monkeypox" I hear it in Homer Simpson's screechy panic voice.

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