Monkeypox
MonkeyPox Comments
08/03/2022
Comments on the MonkeyPox situation, by Dr. Bob Brandt, Jr.
Certainly the MonkeyPox situation sounds pretty scary and I’ve had ex-patients contact me being frightened and paranoid about it. The current situation actually mimics that of HIV infection in the beginning and how it got a “foot-hold” in the USA. Mostly due to international ease of travel, infected people have brought it to the USA. So at the current time, the majority of cases are mostly in cities that are “ports of entry”… so think of New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and to a lesser extent Chicago and Dallas.
In my experience with treating HIV/AIDS from 1983-2018, I found that it took about a year or 18 months for emerging trends of infection to reach the Dayton area. This has also been true with Covid infection trends with the newer variants working their way towards this area from both the East and West Coasts.. Obviously, your risk of exposure to MonkeyPox is higher in the places I’ve already mentioned or having sex and/or intimate contact from people from those places. However, there is no need to panic. We (especially the MSM community) at this point should still be cautious and primarily avoid anonymous sex and intimate contact with those we don’t know well. The spread of the MonkeyPox will certainly expand to our area over the next year or so… just keep up your guard, inform yourself and contact your healthcare provider or local health department if you have questions or concerns. Remember to play safe!!
Dr. Bob
Update 08/03/2022
Currently, Ohio is tracking 30 confirmed cases
Illinois > 500 due to Chicago
Indiana 60
KY 10
WV 5
PA 175
New York > 1750
CA >850
FL >500
TX >500
Certainly the MonkeyPox situation sounds pretty scary and I’ve had ex-patients contact me being frightened and paranoid about it. The current situation actually mimics that of HIV infection in the beginning and how it got a “foot-hold” in the USA. Mostly due to international ease of travel, infected people have brought it to the USA. So at the current time, the majority of cases are mostly in cities that are “ports of entry”… so think of New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and to a lesser extent Chicago and Dallas.
In my experience with treating HIV/AIDS from 1983-2018, I found that it took about a year or 18 months for emerging trends of infection to reach the Dayton area. This has also been true with Covid infection trends with the newer variants working their way towards this area from both the East and West Coasts.. Obviously, your risk of exposure to MonkeyPox is higher in the places I’ve already mentioned or having sex and/or intimate contact from people from those places. However, there is no need to panic. We (especially the MSM community) at this point should still be cautious and primarily avoid anonymous sex and intimate contact with those we don’t know well. The spread of the MonkeyPox will certainly expand to our area over the next year or so… just keep up your guard, inform yourself and contact your healthcare provider or local health department if you have questions or concerns. Remember to play safe!!
Dr. Bob
Update 08/03/2022
Currently, Ohio is tracking 30 confirmed cases
Illinois > 500 due to Chicago
Indiana 60
KY 10
WV 5
PA 175
New York > 1750
CA >850
FL >500
TX >500