Monkeypox challenge for Japan is not just disease but stigma, too

They are not assumptions or prejudice if they are true, now are they? Merely “politically inconvenient

If they are defined as ungrounded assumptions and prejudice, then it folows they are not true, pretending otherwise is not a valid argument.

Technically incorrect

Completely incorrect, and it would lead to higher spreading because of a false sense of being immune to the disease.

The question should be, given that MP is spread by close contact, what are gays doing that straight men aren’t?

That is the thing, straight men are also being infected, so are women and children. Since the age of AIDS it should be easily understood that one population being predominant at the beginning of an outbreak do not mean the situation will remain like that unless the pathogen is only transmitted by their behaviour.

Just realizing how tiny percentage of the population the current outbreak represent should be enough to clearly see that it is still perfectly possible for the main segment of the population being affected to shift as more people are exposed to the infection without taking proper care.

Last year people who made a certain choice were stigmatized on the basis of "you're free to make your own choice but you're not free from the consequences of that choice"

Because those people rejected a safe and effective medical intervention that the experts demonstrated was effective at reducing the transmission just because of irrational beliefs.

But the world seems to have moved on and learned from that and we are no longer discriminating against people for making their own choices.

What scientifically proved measure that the experts in the field are recommending is being rejected by people affected?

It’s a virus it doesn’t discriminate it goes where it goes, I remember when AIDS first started the hatred towards the gay community was toxic. And as a young person at the time I am ashamed of jumping on that band wagon. Never again will that happen. It can strike anyone, All you can do is take sensible precautions, choices in your life. And don’t judge others lest they judge you.

Nobody with a regular job can do that, except THIS is your job.

Haha

probably a UN job or even one of those paid by the UN to propagate the net with UN’s “truth.”

At least Japanese over the age of 48 can rest easy because they all got smallpox vaccine jabs when they were children. The vaccine is effective against monkey pox and its efficacy is supposed to last for decades.

There’s no stigma in Japan. Heck, most western foreigners are in Japan because it’s the easiest place in the world to be gay, bi, etc., or can’t function in their own society. 80% of the foreigners I met what something going on. I’m not gay and I don’t care if someone is, but let’s be honest here,

Perfectly logical to warn the community of prevailing risk factors. (E.g. be extra cautious about casual sex encounters, particular with recent travelers).

Not logical to associate the LGBTQ community itself with the disease. (Which can infect anyone.)

If not, we really have learned nothing from the recent Covid Asian hate BS that happened in western countries.

Just like AIDS, Monkeypox is pretty easily avoided by the straight community.

Not logical to associate the LGBTQ community itself with the disease. (Which can infect anyone.)

As it's 100% gay/bi men spreading the disease, yes it's absolutely logical to associate this disease with homosexuals. That's like saying let's not associate cervical cancer with females.

Monkeypox challenge for Japan is not just disease but stigma, too

In a country where stigma can come from the audacity of requesting to take one’s paid holidays, or one’s mandated maternity or paternity leave, or even simply not wearing a mask when walking alone from the parking lot to the office, I’m not really surprised that contracting Monkeypox would put a black mark next to one’s reputation.

Japan loves to assign stigmata.

Having unprotected sex with multiple sex partners.

Monkeypox is not solely a sexually transmitted disease. Close contact spreads the virus. A child got the virus recently.

The WHO has stressed the disease is not only transmitted through sex and that anybody, regardless of sexual orientation, can be infected.

Except every case in Japan so far has been a gay man. Almost all cases in the west are gay men. "Can be infected " yes, and soon it will move into the straight population. Just like Aids but not as serious.

Having unprotected sex with multiple sex partners.

Experts advise against this.

This is in no way accepted as positive as you clearly misrepresent, so you demonstrate yourself mistaken.

Do you think people should be discriminated against because they make a personal choice that contradicts the opinion of government approved "experts".

When there is objective evidence of this the discrimination is perfectly valid. If you want to reject someone that have unprotected sex with many people you are perfectly fine doing it. That would be discrimination but the position of society is not that you would be doing anything inappropriate as you falsely claimed.

Have you provided anything to refute that that the MSM community is vastly, and disproportionately afflicted by MP (politically correct dogma doesn’t count)?

What would this have to do with considering something untrue when based on unfounded and baseless assumptions? by definition this is true, and since the article only makes this definition without giving any example where this is not the case then it is still completely valid. You want to say other things are not untrue, then comment when those things are being presented, this is not the case here.

Cases in the hetero community do not seem to be bearing your conclusions out.

And how many years have passed since the beginning of the spreading? what percentage of the population have been affected since the beginning? do you think heterosexual people began to be affected mainly during the first weeks of the AIDS pandemic?

Yes, likely from bisexual or closeted men; as for children, the possibility of abuse needs to be discussed

Which still proves the assumption to be completely false, not matter the source the assumption was that the sexual preference made the person impossible to be infected, so false. You have proved that the assumptions being used as example in the article are not "political correct dogma".

You could say the same thing about Monkeypox in any country. In Japan there are four cases to date. Do we really need this story now?

ask yourself about the role the media plays in things like this and Covid 19. They have a vested interest in generating fear.

Decades... so no boosters every 3 months.

Wow, they don't make em like they used to.

Surprise, viruses are very different and the vaccines against the diseases they produce are also very different as well, some pathogens are neutralized by immunity much more easily once it is produced, others not so much. This is nothing new, one of the first vaccines to be produced is against Rabies, which produces immunity that quickly fades and endless boosters are necessary for people in risk of exposure like veterinarians.

About discrimination, in Canada there is a University in London On. Asking all students and employees to have received 2 Covid vaccination and 1 Booster and also mandating masks in the classroom, without this, they can’t attend their courses.

Your example is completely unrelated to stigma, but to rules that decrease the risk form the infection.

Just like AIDS, Monkeypox is pretty easily avoided by the straight community.

Completely false, any kind of close contact (with the infected person, their clothes or bed sheets) can originate transmission, if HIV was so easily transmitted it would not be controlled right now.

So you'd have to not see or ignore those lesions to get it...

Since they are not pathognomonic that would be easy to do, at least much more easily than having sex with them, which is the whole point, to be careful because the sexual transmission is not the only way to get it.

Lesions can appear anywhere in the body, you and everybody else have frequent contact (direct and indirect) with other people skin every day, thinking this have zero risk from getting the disease is not rational.

As it's 100% gay/bi men spreading the disease, yes it's absolutely logical to associate this disease with homosexuals.

From where you get that 100%? any report that says there has been no transmission ever except from those you want to blame? or is is just your personal opinion?

ask yourself about the role the media plays in things like this and Covid 19. They have a vested interest in generating fear.

Fear is the irrational reaction of people that irrationally want to reject knowledge when it contradicts their personal beliefs, for most people this is just information that will be useful to decide the best course of action in the future.

Is the media contradicting the experts that warn against the disease? because if not then blaming the media makes no sense, the experts are the ones interested in keeping people informed for a better public health.

Four confirmed cases in Japan.

"This article was written for the purpose of creating (even more) unnecessary fear, anxiety, confusion, hate, and division.

With only four cases in Japan, it is not even worth writing about. The goal, as you will see clearly in the comments below, is to divide the people and keep them fighting each other, while distracting them from what is REALLY going on."

I guess the editor just forgot to add the disclaimer to this "news article."

Fearmongering

So if experts agree that unprotected gay sex with multiple partners is a risk factor for monkeypox infection do you think their should be rules to decrease the risk?

The important part is what the experts think would be useful, effective to decrease the risk, based on evidence and data that proves it. What nameless people on the internet without access to the data think has no importance in comparison. At this point they are obviously betting on information, education, preparedness and opportune detection/treatment.

Scientists don't make public policy, that's up to politicians.

And public policy should be based on efficacy, something that a politician has no idea how to investigate.

Scientists are supposed to just explain the risks.

From what source did you bring this very limited definition? who do you think are the ones explaining what are the most effective measures and how to interpret the data that proves it? policemen?

The question is, will politicians force people to follow the advice of "experts" or not.

Why would they need to force people? whatever you are imagining is the advice of experts the reality is that the measures done by now are nothing to be forced on people, just information and preparedness. Whatever you personally think people should be forced to do is just part of what you want to imagine according to your personal bias. It makes no sense to pretend this "has" to be what the experts should advice.

Last year, special passports were issued to people who followed the "expert" advice to reduce risk.

Again, your argument is that for monkeypox only measures that require to be forced are going to be used, that is just a product of your personal bias.

For covid these kind of measures were decided as effective, but assuming this is the same for everything else is an invalid generalization.

To be more clear, FIRST the experts need to come up with appropriate measures, then you can being to argue if they should be forced on people or not. Pretending this is the case when none of the current measures require it is just a baseless assumption you have not proved in any way.

Children have been infected with Monkeypox.

Media doesn't help when they say "mostly affects men who have sex with men" and leave it at that. That's not useful for a disease everyone is at risk for. MPX spreads by both virus shedding from lesioned skin and respiratory droplets.

Japan has a few high risk environments:

Contact sports like martial arts

Fuzuko and massage businesses, including 整体 and stretch places

Crowded commuter trains.

Love hotels (you really think those get a deep cleaning between guests?)

3 years and not prepared for SARS-CoV-19. What can we expect?

probably security services monitoring all gay people and their movements, social media etc.

*Exposure to the bodily fluids of an infected person, or *prolonged close contact with a patient's lesions

So you'd have to not see or ignore those lesions to get it...

Yeah like you didn't see or ignored the "bodily fluids" in your own post

Having unprotected sex with multiple sex partners.

Monkeypox is not solely a sexually transmitted disease. Close contact spreads the virus. A child got the virus recently.

You don't fully understand the possible implications of what you posted

I have almost zero chance of catching it.

@wallace

got it.

ianToday 

@wallace

> got it.

yes because some other posters prefer fearmongering.

They are not assumptions or prejudice if they are true, now are they?

They can be. As they say, a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Japan getting worked up again about very little...

Well this spread for multiple reasons all extremely stu...

First is it seems the Gay and Bisexual community forgot that HIV, and other diseases are still around and back to the multiple partners without protection.

Next was the government and these same communities worried about the same type of reaction as with the AIDS crisis so both actively decided to withhold information and telling me public.

Both the UK and Canada admit longer than they would have normally to warn the public as to avoid stigmatizing the gay community.

In the UK it has be revealed that the authorities deliberately wait for a female case before warning the public so they could say it wasn't just gay men.

It is clear this it not a disease most need to worry about.

Unless you are running around with multiple sexual partners and without taking precautions, the majority of us have nothing to worry about.