News Forum - Bangkok virologist says Thais should stay calm over monkeypox

[Thaiger]

Amidst a recent global outbreak of monkeypox, which is usually only found in Africa, an acclaimed virologist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University is saying Thais should stay calm, or jai yen. Last week, a handful of European countries, the US and Australia, reported their first cases of monkeypox, a viral infection similar to smallpox. But the virologist, Dr. Yong Poovorowan, wrote on his Facebook page on Friday that monkeypox is nothing new. He said it is similar to chickenpox, but much less severe and transmissible. Dr. Yong said that monkeypox hasn’t been found in Thailand since 1970. Dr. Yong added that […]

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[Cabra]

I agree, Jai yen. But less severe than chickenpox? Hardly.  CP kills 1 in every 100,000. MP (monkeypox) is 10%. Just saying.

[BigHewer]

Amen. We don’t need any more hysteria. Bad enough as it is.

[Marble-eye]

It doesn't bother me, I have already had 2 bananas and a further 2 banana boosters. 

[Fanta]

No more monkey business for me until this blows over! 

[HolyCowCm]

Unless you live in Lopburi?

[Manu]

Quote

Last week, a handful of European countries, the US and Australia, reported their first cases of monkeypox, a viral infection similar to smallpox.

Now how many Thais had heard about this? But now, thanks again to Big Mouth Dr. Yong Poovorowan, for sure many do, or at least many more. If he really wanted people to "stay calm", shutting up would have been a far better option (again!). This guy spends far too much time on Facebook. I guess he got used to the taste of having his face shown all over the media, "fame" is a hard thing to give up...

[Soidog]

59 minutes ago, Manu said:

Now how many Thais had heard about this? But now, thanks again to Big Mouth Dr. Yong Poovorowan, for sure many do, or at least many more. If he really wanted people to "stay calm", shutting up would have been a far better option (again!). This guy spends far too much time on Facebook. I guess he got used to the taste of having his face shown all over the media, "fame" is a hard thing to give up...

Exactly right. Once in the limelight it’s hard for them to step back in to the shadows. The same is true in the U.K.  I’m sure if all the media and virologists hadn’t spent the last two years talking about Covid, this uptick in monkeypox would have gone unreported. 
 

My advice is stay calm but make sure you have plenty of bananas in stock

[Transam]

Why would they worry about Monkey Pox, it is not a mass killer like Covid. Nobody here worries about Hepatitis, or Rabies....

[Marble-eye]

The symptoms are a big red bum and the ability to swing from tree to tree with great ease whilst going oo oo ah ah. 

[Soidog]

25 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

The symptoms are a big red bum and the ability to swing from tree to tree with great ease whilst going oo oo ah ah. 

What you do in the bed room is of no concern to the rest of us

[Chatogaster]

4 hours ago, Cabra said:

I agree, Jai yen. But less severe than chickenpox? Hardly.  CP kills 1 in every 100,000. MP (monkeypox) is 10%. Just saying.

 

I agree (jai yen), but it's apples versus pears as usual:

• He's expressing severity based on mortality rate + reproduction rate (i.e. a community view), and in that context he's right and you're wrong.
• You're expressing severity solely based on mortality rate (i.e. a personal view), and in that context you're right and he's wrong.

PS: your mortality figures don't match with what I found after a quick google (CP 3 times higher, MP 2 times lower), but never mind as it doesn't matter + I'm too lazy to provide links as well right now.

 

[DiJoDavO]

12 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Amidst a recent global outbreak of monkeypox

That's where I stopped reading. Stop the fear porn. 

[Ivo_Shandor]

12 hours ago, Thaiger said:

He said it is similar to chickenpox,

No, the translation is wrong, and you shall definitely avoid to use Google Translate from Thai to English.

He did not wrote that, he wrote that "smallpox of monkey" (aka monkeypox, ฝีดาษวานร) is similar to "smallpox in humans" (โรคฝีดาษ ใน มนุษย์). Chickenpox (อีสุกอีใส) is not even related to smallpox, nor to monkeypox, the first being due to herpesvirus, the latters due to two closely related poxviruses.

[Poolie]

Send it to Hartlepool, they know how to treat monkeys up there.

 

[Vigo]

There is a significant risk associated with monkeypox and it  presents a risk to the under age 40 population.The African data  indicates a heavy fatality rate in children. For example, https://europepmc.org/article/med/27783372   The fatality was 67% among children less than 10 years

The basis for some health specialists in adopting a no need to worry approach is their reliance on the successful mass vaccination against smallpox. It is believed that the smallpox vaccine works against monkeypox too.  Much of the world was vaccinated against smallpox and the disease disappeared.  There haven't been mass small pox vaccinations in the world since the 1980's, so a large number of people under the age of 40 have no protection. These are the people who are now reporting infections.

9 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Amen. We don’t need any more hysteria. Bad enough as it is.

There is no hysteria, but the infections are showing exponential growth.

2 hours ago, DiJoDavO said:

That's where I stopped reading. Stop the fear porn. 

There is no fear porn. If you wish to go into denial so be it.

As of May 20 there were 39 cases*  (https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-monkeypox-outbreak) confirmed in the western world. Earlier in the week there were only 5 confirmed cases. In addition, there are an expected 42 additional cases. Lisbon, Portugal and Montreal, Canada are the hotspots with 34 confirmed and suspected cases  in Lisbon and 19 confirmed and suspected cases in Montreal. These were local infections and did not involve travelers. Despite the initial explanation that the infection is associated with males having sex with each other (because all of the  Madrid Spain and  Berlin Germany cases reflected that) , the Lisbon and Montreal cases indicate that the infection is now in the general population. The concern is if the monkey pox enters the  pediatric population.

No, the world will not be as negatively impacted as is the case of Covid and most 40+year olds have nothing to much to worry about. However, if the infection is not contained and enters the unvaccinated pediatric population, there is the potential for thousand's of children to clog up the healthcare system with many dying.