On Wednesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued a warning about the rise in monkeypox cases globally. PAHO’s deputy director Mary Lou Valdez said that in the last week, 5,300 cases of monkeypox were reported in 18 countries in the Americas. There have been more than 2,400 cases reported in the UK. Overall, there are more than 20,000 confirmed cases.
This isn’t news that anyone wanted to hear, and it’s unclear whether it will be possible to raise public concern about another virus, and one that’s considered rare. Monkeypox is usually considered a sexually-transmissible disease. It is spread most efficiently through direct skin-to-skin contact, though the rate of transmission through contaminated materials – including bedding, clothing and electronics – is still being investigated.
Unfortunately, a significant number of these cases have been spread through sexual contact between men aged 25-45, but viruses quickly jump age and gender-preference classifications. This is not a gay disease. It is a disease that spreads through contact and extended exposure.
Monkeypox is related to smallpox and the smallpox vaccine usually protects against it – but that vaccine is rarely given today.
Ms Valdez also warned that the BA.4 and BA.5 covid19 sub-variants are now the predominant strains in the region. Last week, the rate of infections began rising in the Americas, with 1.6 million infections reported between July 17 and 24.
Recent weeks have proven the extent of covid fatigue in the TT population, who began defying the mask mandate before the official repeal of the regulations. When the mask law was finally rolled back to a few select institutions, there was a general sense that the government was just conceding the reality of public unmasking.
But dropping the mandate doesn’t mean the threat has gone away, especially as only half the country is fully vaccinated, and significant portions of the rest have had no jabs at all. And one unforeseen and unwelcome outcome of the covid19 “anti-vaxxer” movement has been lower rates of acceptance of the traditional vaccines for unrelated but dangerous illnesses.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health reported 6,379 active cases of covid19, with 162 new infections and three deaths.
The state’s communications teams have had a two-year boot camp in addressing an irrational response to virus threat, and the difficulty of disseminating facts in the face of conspiracy theories and the impassioned quacks of social media.
Early clinical outreach on monkeypox is targeting where infections are currently most prevalent, among the LGBTQ+ community, and the state would be wise to partner with local NGOs to get the word out early, while emphasising that the virus can infect anyone.
The challenges of managing covid19 should inspire the Health Ministry to build an institutional, ongoing response to anti-vaccination rhetoric to improve public confidence in science-based advice and recommended medical response.
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