Monkeypox

[ErosWired]

52 minutes ago, rawTOP said:

Two people have died of MPX in NYC…

[think before following links] [think before following links] https://apple.news/ARmIl8ogKTNS7nSWClQosXA

That brings the total deaths in the US to 4 (or is it 5?)

As of Sunday, Oct 23, CNN reports 6. Two in NYC, two in Chicago, one in Nevada and one in Maryland.

Edited October 25, 2022 by ErosWired

[hntnhole]

After the sweaty flurry of getting the shots here in Ft.L. (I must say, the Pride Center got it's act together re: mpx very quickly and there were a number of other service-providers who did as well), within days thousands of guys had their first shot.  Two weeks, then the second.  Two more weeks, protection against mpx.  All of that happened, and now most guys have put it all behind them.  Every guy is fucking / getting fucked by every other guy, and it's back to normal.  

[Slinglizard]

I still can’t get vaccinated in my area, but looking at the data, the numbers seem to be plummeting.

Is that really the case, or am I just trying to fool myself?

[BootmanLA]

4 minutes ago, Slinglizard said:

I still can’t get vaccinated in my area, but looking at the data, the numbers seem to be plummeting.

Is that really the case, or am I just trying to fool myself?

Numbers in general *are* plummeting. That's probably because of heavy vaccination rates in many of the "hotspots" where monkeypox was readily spread - NYC, SF, LA, SE Florida, Chicago, and so forth.

STIs become epidemic when there is lots of opportunity for partner exchange, when a disease is easily transmissible, and when it is already prevalent in a community.

When HIV hit the gay community in the late 1970's, in the heyday of bathhouses and sex clubs and bars encouraging frequent sex and constantly hooking up with new people, the rate of partner exchange was at its peak. Because HIV doesn't present the same kind of symptoms that other STIs (like syphilis and gonorrhea) present, and the one sign of early infection (flu-like symptoms) were easily dismissed as something else, there was ample opportunity for it to spread rapidly in cities where there were large gay communities (especially NYC, SF, and LA, but in others as well). People would flock to NYC Pride, LA Pride, SF's pride and the various street fairs, have lots of sex, and then go back home to their communities with an infection that would then get spread, albeit more slowly, via partner exchange back home.

By contrast, monkeypox has much more visible (and painful) sores, making it harder to keep spreading once symptoms begin to manifest. And many men who might otherwise have been infected got vaccinated because (a) the vaccine existed and (b) there was a concerted effort to reach them. Obviously, some people were infected and spread it before symptoms developed, but enough of an effort was made to reduce the reproduction rate to the point where it stands a chance of being well-controlled, if not eradicated, in the west.

Another boost came from the fact that Covid-19 protocols were still cancelling large events, especially some sexually-oriented ones, because of concern of becoming a spreading event. And event organizers strongly pushed participants to get mpx-vaccinated well in advance, if possible.

[PozBearWI]

So picking up on @BootmanLA; my opinion is that if you can get vaccinated for MonkeyPox go ahead and do it.  Just good preventive care...  But if your hoops are major; like having to drive three hours each way which happens here in Wisconsin; I would make an effort to fit it into something else.  I know a friend of mine who lives in a low transmission area came to an event this past weekend I hosted; and then stayed around to get vaccinated Monday before he went back home.  

Overall, as we just experienced globally a viral event; and the response was largely isolation (which helped); we seem to be observing more evolutions of virus.  Some of this is just population mixing as humans in some parts of the world have been displaced.  Viruses which might have been common and somewhat controlled by herd immunity might be new when that population migrates.  

My opinion is that keeping current on the vaccinations we can may result in fewer surprises.  As a point, we're seeing a spike in illness amongst young people with multiple viruses at once.  We should not be surprised if we see similar "pile on" effects in our near futures.  

[topblkmale]

11 hours ago, Slinglizard said:

I still can’t get vaccinated in my area, but looking at the data, the numbers seem to be plummeting.

Is that really the case, or am I just trying to fool myself?

Media (legacy mainstream and social) lost interest in it. I searched #monkeypox on Twitter yesterday and its just memes now.

[Treehugger]

I got vaccinated today at Emmanuel Church in Portland today. The people there were sooo nice and they provided food for anyone getting vaccinated, huge to go container of chicken teriyaki with egg rolls. Delicious and convenient. Feels good to finally get the first shot. All totally free. 

[LetsPOZBreed]

I got my first jab this morning.  I think the supplies in the UK still aren't really where they need to be, so most places don't do "walk-in's".  I got a push notification from my HIV clinic on Monday saying that they had some slots to book, and I snapped one up.  Very quick and painless; they didn't ask me any questions around my sexual activity (which has been non-existent for about 7 or 8 months - so I'm surprised I even got an invite in the first place).

Second dose should be in 28 days (assuming availability of supplies).  Just want to get it done and dusted.

[NWUSHorny]

12 hours ago, Treehugger said:

I got vaccinated today at Emmanuel Church in Portland today. The people there were sooo nice and they provided food for anyone getting vaccinated, huge to go container of chicken teriyaki with egg rolls. Delicious and convenient. Feels good to finally get the first shot. All totally free. 

I missed that clinic, I'm a few days over due for my 2nd does, the clinic where I received it was supposed to make arrangements when they had doses available, and I have been checking my MyChart account with them regularly just in case I missed all of the multiple notification methods I set up. If worst comes to worst, Steam is hosting a walk in clinic Nov. 9th.

[ErosWired]

I’m scheduled for my second dose tomorrow.

But I’m still going to avoid the zoo until they come out with boosters to ward off baboons, gibbons and pygmy marmosets.

[viking8x6]

16 minutes ago, ErosWired said:

I’m scheduled for my second dose tomorrow.

But I’m still going to avoid the zoo until they come out with boosters to ward off baboons, gibbons and pygmy marmosets.

It's the bonobos you really have to worry about. They'll have sex with anything.

[Treehugger]

8 hours ago, NWUSHorny said:

I missed that clinic

I first tried to go to a drive in clinic in Troutdale but that was discontinued so I called the number provided and they gave me another number (503) 988-8939 which was answered (I’m pretty sure) by one of the drag queens from Bob’s Burgers who was very helpful and directed me to the clinic at Emmanuel so I didn’t waste the two hour drive. 
    So give them a call if you want to find a shot before the 9th. 

[tallslenderguy]

"Most patients hospitalized for monkeypox were HIV-positive in CDC report 

Summary by Ground News

Study looked at cases of 57 U.S. patients hospitalized with severe monkeypox complications. Almost all (83%) had severely weakened immune systems, most often because of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Many of those patients were not being treated for the virus that causes AIDS."

[think before following links] https://ground.news/article/most-patients-hospitalized-for-monkeypox-were-hiv-positive-in-cdc-report_81cad5

[rawTOP]

On 10/26/2022 at 11:00 AM, Slinglizard said:

I still can’t get vaccinated in my area, but looking at the data, the numbers seem to be plummeting.

Is that really the case, or am I just trying to fool myself?

IMHO, you should still try to get vaccinated. Getting MPX is miserable and it's not going away completely.

[ErosWired]

Double monkeyed-up now.

I consider myself lucky even though it was a 1.5 hour round-trip to get a jab that took five seconds.

But my appreciation for vaccinations is bigger than just having access to something hard to get. Something we don’t ever really talk about around here is what happens to your immunity when your HIV progresses to AIDS - your immunity doesn’t just get weak, your body forgets it was ever immune at all. Your immunity to certain things can actually become extinct, such that there’s nothing left to recover.

You aren’t born with immunity, you build it. Some you may get from your mother, but most of it you gain from fighting off the daily siege by microorganisms trying to break in, by surviving and hanging the invaders’ heads on your body’s trophy walk so you always remember how to fight them. The more you fight, the stronger you get.

AIDS hits reset on all that. You have to start from the beginning on many immunities. I had chicken pox as a kid. My body forgot all about it, so the second year after I survived nearly dying from AIDS, I got shingles. Since then I’ve had to re-educate my immune system with a series of crash courses using vaccinations. If there’s one available, I’ll get it, because I can no longer take any immunity for granted.

The best thing about this Monkeypox vaccine is that it’s a two-fer.

You got something for me, Smallpox? If you’re feeling froggy, jump.