[Health] The Infectious Diseases Thread

[Smoove_B]

The pictures are cool Very creative use of a ballpoint pen!

[The Meal]

Not. Happenin’.

[Blackhawk]

Finally, a feel-good ivermectin story.

Army of worm larvae hatch from man’s bum, visibly slither under his skin

[Daehawk]

[Isgrimnur]

I'll take the hit.

There's a microscope picture of the parasite in question, three pictures of the patient with the rash, one of which includes butt crack.

All in all, not horrible.

[The Meal]

I refuse to get butt bammed.

[Blackhawk]

It's more of a plumber's crack, and the worms really just look like stretch marks.

[Daehawk]

[Blackhawk]

Wow, I really opened a can of worms...

[Blackhawk]

[Daehawk]

IcwutUdidTher

[Smoove_B]

All in all, not horrible.

I need to reiterate - ball point pen. Genius.

[Max Peck]

China has reported the first known case of H3N8 avian influenza in a human.

China: Human H3N8 avian influenza case reported in Henan Province

The China National Health Commission reported today on a human infection with H3N8 avian influenza in Henan Province.

The patient is a four-year-old boy from Zhumadian City. This is the first known human case of H3N8 avian influenza.

Before the onset of the disease, the patient had raised chickens and black-bone chickens at home, and there were wild ducks around the home.

He developed fever and other symptoms on April 5, and was admitted to a local medical institution for treatment on the 10th due to aggravation of his condition . On the 24th, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a test on the patient specimen sent from Henan Province , and the result was positive for the H3N8 avian influenza virus. Henan Province carried out medical observation and sampling tests on the close contacts of the child, and no abnormality was found.

[Max Peck]

The first human case of avian flu in the U.S. is reported in Colorado

A man in Colorado is the first human in the U.S. to test positive for bird flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

The case comes as the H5N1 bird influenza tears through the U.S., posing a low risk to humans while leading to the deaths of millions of birds. Some of the birds have died from the disease, but the vast majority of them are being culled to curb the spread.

The patient, who is younger than 40, was involved in the culling of presumptively infected poultry at a commercial farm in Colorado's Montrose County, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. He is an inmate at a state correctional facility in Delta County and was working with poultry as part of a pre-release employment program.

[Smoove_B]

Brace yourselves, monkeypox is likely incoming:

The news of cases in additional countries led a senior official of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn that cases will likely be spotted in the United States.

“I think we have concerns there might be cases in the United States. I don’t know that we have strong visibility on people who might be reporting for what seem to be a minor rash illness to an STI clinic or something like that,” said Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s division of high consequence pathogens and pathology.

Monkeypox isn't new, but this does seem to have the potential to reach more people than the last few times there were outbreaks.

[Jeff V]

Monkeypox isn't new, but this does seem to have the potential to reach more people than the last few times there were outbreaks.

It's because more people are doing nasty things with monkeys, isn't it? "Ooooh, look at the cute monkey! Let's f**k it!"

[Smoove_B]

I think the last few times the outbreaks were small and localized. For reasons yet to be communicated, this outbreak seems to have spread much further. The fact that it's sprung up in few spots globally all around the same time suggests there's some as-yet undiscovered common point that connects the cases.

EDIT: The State of MA has confirmed someone has monkeypox. That's...interesting.

[Smoove_B]

NYC now investigating possible monkeypox case. This continues to get more and more interesting.

There are currently six Americans being monitored by the CDC for monkeypox. They were all on the same flight as a British person who tested positive for monkeypox earlier this month.

The disease is similar to chickenpox and smallpox but less contagious, according to the CDC.

There were only two cases recorded in the U.S. last year.

[Kraken]

This thread needed a new disease.

[Max Peck]

Montreal public health authority probing 17 cases of suspected monkeypox

Montreal's top public health official is urging people not to panic as her department investigates 17 cases of suspected monkeypox in the greater Montreal region.

At a news conference Thursday morning, Dr. Mylène Drouin said there are 15 suspected cases on the island of Montreal, one on the South Shore and another north of Laval.

"Most of our cases are not severe," said Drouin, adding officials are still awaiting lab results to confirm whether they are, in fact, monkeypox.

Until now, monkeypox outbreaks have been limited mostly to central and western Africa, but in recent weeks, suspected cases have been identified in the U.S., U.K., Portugal and Spain.

So what you're saying is that some of the cases are severe. But don't panic.

[stessier]

This is a doctor who makes funny videos that I enjoy with a warning.

[Max Peck]

Monkey Corona Pox is a dumb name. Since it will have Omicron's extreme transmissibility via respiratory aerosols, I'm going to call it Flying Monkey Pox.

[dbt1949]

Oh great. Now we have flying monkeys like the Wizard of Oz.

[Isgrimnur]

Expert: Monkeypox likely spread by sex at 2 raves in Europe

[Max Peck]

Monkeypox warnings 'went ignored,' and now world must brace for more outbreaks: scientists

For years, African scientists tracked a steep rise in monkeypox cases.

More than 2,800 suspected cases were reported in 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone. The year after, there were nearly 3,800.

By 2020 — half a century after the first human infection was found in the central African country, then known as Zaire — the total tally of suspected annual cases neared 6,300, including 229 deaths.

The clear spike in infections occurred as globalization increased, humans continued encroaching on animal habitats and cross-protection offered from decades-old smallpox immunization campaigns began to wane. Given that perfect storm, many scientists weren't shocked by the recent emergence of monkeypox in other countries around the world.

Some also warn that this won't be the last time the virus spreads beyond its typical territory.

"The recent outbreaks are kind of the culmination of years of warnings that basically went ignored," said Dr. Boghuma Titanji, a scientist and infectious diseases physician at Emory University in Atlanta who is originally from Cameroon.

"Because unfortunately, monkeypox is a disease that has traditionally caused outbreaks in Africa — and usually in very remote parts of Africa — and affecting populations that the world doesn't always care about."

[Kraken]

If monkeypox gains traction we will respond far more aggressively than we did to covid, because monkeypox is gross. If sars-cov-2 was disfiguring we would've stomped that virus flat.

[Smoove_B]

If monkeypox gains traction

Are you a wizard? This is extra bad news:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that new genetic sequencing data indicate there are at least two distinct monkeypox outbreaks underway outside Africa — a surprise finding that one official said suggests international spread is wider, and has been occurring for longer than has been previously realized.

...

Public health authorities have already raised concerns about whether monkeypox spread can be stopped, with Hans Kluge, the director of the European office of the World Health Organization, acknowledging earlier this week that it is currently unclear whether the outbreak will be contained.

When asked if she thought the spread of monkeypox could be stopped, Damon sidestepped the question.

“Everybody is working really hard to try to understand what’s happening and … to think about what public health tools can be used to prevent additional spread, including sort of looking at the use of vaccines and the use of therapeutics, which are not unlimited in supply,” she said. “I think it is only with the tight surveillance and looking at what is happening will we understand whether this is something that can be contained.”

[Max Peck]

How far out are we from the "We need to learn to live with monkeypox" messaging from the CDC?

[Smoove_B]

Before 2020 I would have answered differently, but right now? I am genuinely concerned at the lack of coherent, proactive messaging that's been disseminated. Sure, there's an updated web page, but I guess if you asked 10 people on the street about monkeypox, they'd say "Oh, yeah I heard about that disease spreading between gay men" and shrug it off.

That's not to say the average person should be on high alert, but there really seems to be general confusion about what's happening. I've heard mixed information that some hospitals/doctors have provided good information to the clinical staff on what to be watching for (and how to protect themselves) while others haven't shared anything.

[Blackhawk]

I'm starting to get the feeling that nature has decided to correct its 'imbalance' by karmaing the crap out of humanity.

[Smoove_B]

The case for me moving to Canada continues to grow as Montreal initiates (checks notes) public health practice and begins to proactively offer vaccinations for Monkeypox to at-risk communities:

https://twitter.com/sebpoule/status/1533581129219031042

Montreal public health MonkeyPox vaccination starting tomorrow!

Post-exposure (skin-skin) with MonkeyPox + case and/or fomites, <14d or less

Men, Gay Bisexual Trans with 2 or more male sexual partners in the last 14d

8h00-19h30
965 Boul de Maisonneuve E, MTL

[Daehawk]

Not only cant you breath in stores now you can no longer touch anything.

[Smoove_B]

Not only cant you breath in stores now you can no longer touch anything.

If you're engaging in skin-to-skin contact at your local grocer, I have some additional concerns for you to consider.

[Daehawk]

Not only cant you breath in stores now you can no longer touch anything.

If you're engaging in skin-to-skin contact at your local grocer, I have some additional concerns for you to consider.

Only the octopus in the local meat dept.

[Isgrimnur]

We have two more cases of a rare tickborne disease confirmed in NJ, and we're waiting to see if the death of one of the confirmed cases is related:

Powassan virus affects the central nervous system and can cause swelling of the brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NBC News

A Connecticut woman in her 90s died last month from the tick-borne Powassan virus, the Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed Tuesday.

The woman became ill in early May with symptoms including fever, an altered mental state, headache, chills, chest pain and nausea, the department said. She had a tick removed two weeks before her symptoms started, and laboratory tests showed she had antibodies for Powassan virus.

In April, a person in Maine also died of Powassan virus after being hospitalized with neurological symptoms, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Smoove_B]

Where's $iljanus? Because I have some news to share:

Fragments of the monkeypox virus have been detected in semen in a handful of patients in Italy, raising questions over whether sexual transmission of the disease is a possibility, scientists said on Monday.

The monkeypox virus is understood to spread through close contact with an infected person, who may shed the virus via its hallmark skin lesions or large respiratory droplets. Many of the monkeypox cases confirmed in the current outbreak are among sexual partners who have had such close contact.

However sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, and syphilis are understood to be caused by pathogens that pass from one person to the next specifically in semen, vaginal secretions or other bodily fluids.

Stay safe out there folks.

[Unagi]

And certainly, if an Italian tries to give you a handful of semen - do not accept it - no matter how patient they are.

[Smoove_B]

WHO is meeting next week (6/23) to decide whether or not monkeypox (or whatever it will eventually called) is an emergency disease outbreak of international concern.

Spoiler - it should be

[LawBeefaroni]

WHO is meeting next week (6/23) to decide whether or not monkeypox (or whatever it will eventually called) is an emergency disease outbreak of international concern.

Spoiler - it should be

Of more pressing concern is what to call it.

The World Health Organization will officially rename monkeypox, in light of concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus that has infected over 1,600 people in more than two dozen countries.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, announced Tuesday morning that the organization is “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes.” He said the WHO will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible.

"We have a potential pandemic on our hands..."
"Oh. My. God. Has anyone contacted marketing????!"

[Smoove_B]

You laugh, but the number of scholars pointing out the eerie similarities to how things unfolded with AIDS in the early 1980s is really striking. And if you asked the average person right now, I'm guessing they'd say they heard it was a disease affecting homosexuals and they weren't worried. Or that it came from monkeys. No idea what they're going to name it though; I am curious.