AUG 26 — So, just when the world has moved on from one pandemic, we got another bad boy disease hitting the news: mpox (formerly referred to as monkeypox).
Friends and colleagues have been sharing news regarding this disease, together with the by-now-familiar photo of a guy whose back is covered with lesions. As with the early Covid days, it’s not at all surprising to see more people getting concerned.
Mpox’s visible symptoms on the body can take one to 21 days to appear after infection and because many of the lesions could be on the chest and mid-body, unless said person isn’t wearing any clothes, it won’t be that easily detected.
The other symptoms share a lot in common with other diseases and ailments (i.e. sore throat, muscle aches, back pain, etc.) which, sad to say, only elevate our fears because little Ah Meng who has trouble swallowing may have mpox (!).
As a result, some of my friends who’ve stopped wearing masks for two years are wearing them again. Some are becoming more careful about putting their arms on restaurant tables.
My apartment neighbours are saying maybe it’s best to take a break from the pool, etc. An acquaintance even told me he’ll quit getting massages until mpox disappears from the news (tough luck for those places, I guess).
Given how a new strain of mpox has been discovered, not to mention the rising number of cases, I can imagine such concerns rising and validly so.
As of this writing, I think Singapore, Philippines and we are on at least moderate alert.
The absolute last thing our country needs is a Covid-like emergency or even the hint of another “movement control order” (we all know what good those did).
Some hope?
Whilst we absolutely must be concerned and vigilant about mpox, I think being cognisant of some facts regarding mpox vis-à-vis Covid can help ease any excessive fears.
The first is the welcomed remarks from the World Health Organisation that mpox is not Covid 2.0 i.e. the two diseases cannot be legitimately equated.
For example, unlike Covid which threatened the elderly, it seems that a majority of senior citizens should be already protected from mpox via the smallpox vaccine.
The smallpox vaccination (which eradicated smallpox by 1980) provided some measure of protection against monkeypox too; and in Malaysia, almost everyone born in the 1940s and 1950s have been given the shot.
Also, a few vaccines and even treatment for mpox are already available. That’s surely encouraging.
Finally, unlike Covid, it appears that mpox cannot spread via small respiratory droplets (which makes transmission somewhat more challenging).
Mpox spreads primarily via skin-to-skin contact and touching objects previously handled by an infected person. As a result, thankfully (and notwithstanding the newly mutated strain’s strength), the R0 for mpox has been less than 1 historically.
Mpox’s transmission so far simply cannot match Covid’s.
Long and short, mpox and Covid remain categorical apples and oranges for now.
Still, and nevertheless, this doesn’t excuse us from resting on our laurels. We needn’t be up in arms over mpox but let’s not take it for granted either. Stay safe, everyone.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
