If you were to scroll through the diseases that ended with pox, there would be: chickenpox, cowpox, raccoonpox, camelpox, and finally, monkeypox. Monkeypox? According to the CDC, monkeypox was found in 1958, where scientists found the disease living on monkeys. This wasn’t a huge threat until recently, when the US had an outbreak of less than 800 cases. The US shouldn’t be more concerned about the recent outbreak of monkeypox because of three main reasons: it is not easy to spread, not very fatal, and there are other more important diseases out there.
You might be thinking, “Wow 800 cases, not a big deal.” And you would be right. However, the US government has announced, “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of Bavarian Nordic’s JYNNEOS, an FDA-licensed vaccine indicated for prevention of smallpox and monkeypox, for use in responding to current or future monkeypox outbreaks and as part of U.S. smallpox preparedness.” This means that the government thinks that monkeypox could possibly be a threat and that they are well prepared for it.
Monkeypox is not very contagious. The CDC says that the only way it spreads is by direct contact with a person with monkeypox, eating an animal that had monkeypox, or touching something that another person with monkeypox touched. Most people with common sense won’t do any of these things. We can see that this is true because in the US we have 767 cases (updated 2 days ago).
If you get monkeypox, do not be afraid. This is because monkeypox is not very fatal. The World Health Organizations says, “Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.” This means that if you do get monkeypox, you probably won’t die.
Adding the low death rate with vaccines, not many people are going to die.
Lastly, we have many other diseases to be worried about. COVID-19 is still in the US and infects people every day. In fact, according to the New York Times, there are still over 10 thousand new cases of COVID in the US every day. COVID is not the only other disease to be worried about; the WHO has a list of the top 10 diseases, and monkeypox is not one of them. If you were to ask someone if they wanted to cure COVID or monkeypox, they would probably say COVID.
In summary, because of the recent outbreak of monkeypox, we have to ask the question if the US should be more worried about it. But our fear about monkeypox is overblown because it is not contagious, not fatal, and there are many other diseases to be worried about. Maybe the next time you search up the list of animal poxes, monkeypox will be a thing of the past.
You might be thinking, “Wow 800 cases, not a big deal.” And you would be right. However, the US government has announced, “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of Bavarian Nordic’s JYNNEOS, an FDA-licensed vaccine indicated for prevention of smallpox and monkeypox, for use in responding to current or future monkeypox outbreaks and as part of U.S. smallpox preparedness.” This means that the government thinks that monkeypox could possibly be a threat and that they are well prepared for it.
Monkeypox is not very contagious. The CDC says that the only way it spreads is by direct contact with a person with monkeypox, eating an animal that had monkeypox, or touching something that another person with monkeypox touched. Most people with common sense won’t do any of these things. We can see that this is true because in the US we have 767 cases (updated 2 days ago).
If you get monkeypox, do not be afraid. This is because monkeypox is not very fatal. The World Health Organizations says, “Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.” This means that if you do get monkeypox, you probably won’t die.
Adding the low death rate with vaccines, not many people are going to die.
Lastly, we have many other diseases to be worried about. COVID-19 is still in the US and infects people every day. In fact, according to the New York Times, there are still over 10 thousand new cases of COVID in the US every day. COVID is not the only other disease to be worried about; the WHO has a list of the top 10 diseases, and monkeypox is not one of them. If you were to ask someone if they wanted to cure COVID or monkeypox, they would probably say COVID.
In summary, because of the recent outbreak of monkeypox, we have to ask the question if the US should be more worried about it. But our fear about monkeypox is overblown because it is not contagious, not fatal, and there are many other diseases to be worried about. Maybe the next time you search up the list of animal poxes, monkeypox will be a thing of the past.
