As if you don't have enough worries with COVID, inflation, criminality, and conflict in Ukraine, there's a new thing to keep you awake: monkeypox. While the illness is prevalent among men who have had had sex with another man, states and federal governments would like you to be terrified, really terrified.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is of course crying as he sounds the alarm. On the official website for the state government Monday night:
In the continuing response to the outbreak of monkeypox, Governor Gavin Newsom today declared a State of Emergency to bolster the state's efforts to get vaccines. This declaration is in support of the efforts that are being undertaken by officials from the California Department of Public Health as well as other administration officials to coordinate a unified response to the monkeypox outbreak, search for additional vaccines, and oversee outreach and education on getting vaccines and treatments.
It is important to note that California remains under a two-plus year State of Emergency because of COVID. It's very likely that the Golden State will be under a State of Emergency for one reason or another for the remainder of time. The announcement went on to say:
We'll continue working together with federal officials to obtain more vaccines, educate the public regarding reducing risk, as well as join with the LGBTQ community in fighting the stigmatization.
I don't have a desire to make gay men feel like a burden or any one else from the LGBTQ community (though I'm pretty sure monkeypox doesn't show up in the majority of lesbians). The thing I have a problem with is the fact that the powers to be are deliberately ignoring the truth to shield those they believe are inaccessible. The case with monkeypox is similar to the COVID situation over the course of the last three years; they've been trying to convince us that we're all vulnerable to COVID. But that's just not the case.
While they've been branded by the media throughout the outbreak as dangerous dangers to their grandparents or teachers, the reality is that kids were at low or no risk of getting the first Wuhan Flu, but the obese and elderly were. Last month Jon Cryer called children “unchecked vectors for a lethal infectious disease.”
A father friend of mine informed me recently that his 21 year old, monogamous, and heterosexual daughter appeared before him looking pale and a bit terrified. “Dad, should I be worried about monkeypox?” I'm sorry to offend, but if you're not engaging in sexual relations with gay men with open sores, you'll be okay. Our society is one of fear, and the once reliable health centers are now enticed by the prospect of selling the disease.
NPR states it has reported that “the first California instance of the current monkeypox outbreak was confirmed on May 25. The total number of cases reported in the state is 825, which is compared to 5,811 cases in the entire country.” Emergency!
The Washington Post describes how you could obtain it:
The pathogen is introduced into the body via damaged skin and respiratory tracts or mucous membranes found in the nose, eyes, mouth, rectum, and the anus. Saunas, clubs, raves or sex-themed parties, as well as other events where there is proximity to a large number of individuals, could increase the likelihood of exposure, particularly in the event that people are wearing less clothes.
Why are they trying to scare the whole population, when only a tiny portion of people engage in those risky behaviors? Why are authorities appearing to encourage these actions instead of properly describing the dangers? The kids were kept out of schools for more than a year, however the geniuses of San Francisco think it's too for them to delay the event that is likely to be a hugely sexual festival.
The Post further defines those at the highest in danger:
Although anybody can contract the virus the majority of cases are among males. In the endemic regions of Africa, the theory was that the cause was hunting practices. However, in this current epidemic, the majority of effected people are aged between 21-40 years old who have sexual relations with men or women who have several partner sexual relationships, and who engage in condom-free sex. Skin-to-skin contact is the most common method of transmission in these cases.
Children of small size are at risk? Seems unlikely. The NY Times was quick to ridicule those who have to worry about monkeypox:
If monkeypox takes an unabated presence within the United States and becomes an epidemic virus that is part of our pathogens' circulating list It could be one of the most disastrous public health failures in the present, not just due to the danger and pain of the disease, but as well because it was easily avoided.
Sorry, but it seems somewhat sour for me to claim that a non-lethal virus being spread among a tiny group of people could be one of “the worst public health failures in modern times.”
Monkeypox is real and it's not enjoyable, even if it's not particularly dangerous. I believe that every precaution (placing a Band-Aid to cover an open wound) must be followed by anyone who is at risk, and vaccinations as well as other measures should be taken as required. However, the attempt to terrorize anyone in a COVID-weary society is completely unwise. I strongly believe in the protection of the weak, just as public health officials and blue-state governors would have been protecting nursing home residents in New York and Michigan in the beginning of the epidemic.
Do not try to scare the whole population that is really not at risk.
