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Liz Highleyman Profile picture
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Aug 11 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Gay men don't need government directives or community shaming -- just be honest about how #monkeypox is spreading (ie, don't suggest sex, dancing together & touching clothing are equal risks) & they'll figure it out for themselves. It's already happening.
wapo.st/3PbtLuk
Behavior change didn't *fail* to curb #HIV -- rather it was an incomplete success, so we needed new approaches like U=U & PrEP. Until #monkeypox vaccines are readily available, abstinence, fewer partners, different activities & condoms are all part of the harm reduction toolbox.
(We don't know yet whether condoms can prevent #monkeypox, but given symptom presentation in the current outbreak, it seems likely they can reduce risk.)

bit.ly/3bLLriB
People have an urge to tailor info about where & how #monkeypox is spreading in order to not give ammunition to homophobes on one hand or promote moralistic scolding on the other. But it's not going to work -- both those tendencies are too strong. Just give people the facts.

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More from @LizHighleyman

Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Aug 10
This could be a game-changer for containing the spread of #monkeypox. Saliva test results were concordant with lesions swabs & some people tested positive before they developed lesions. @drklausner @alexmeshkin @FlowHealthHQ 1/
bit.ly/3A9Fpld
It's not clear whether people can transmit MPX before they develop lesions, but some research suggests asymptomatic transmission might be possible. 2/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
In @FlowHealthHQ study, 22 #monkeypox cases were detected among 132 people screened, of whom 6 (27%) didn't report symptoms & 4 (18%) didn't have a rash.
Read 4 tweets
Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Aug 6
Things we do & do not know about this case. We know a daycare worker has #monkeypox. We're told some number of young children were exposed. None of the kids have MPX so far, but the incubation time is too short. 1/
nbcnews.to/3zD0CT9
The reported exposure ranges from touching the same objects to possibly varying degrees of skin-to-skin contact. Some of these exposure risks are considered very low risk, others are higher. 2/
Some contact people worry about -- like wiping noses & changing diapers -- might infect a worker if a kid has MPX, but not vice versa. Before this outbreak, MPX wasn't considered easily transmissible from person to person, but it spreads like wildfire in dense sexual networks. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Aug 6
People on both ends of the political spectrum came to distrust public health & the media during COVID because they think mitigation policies were either too strict or too lax & we warned the public either too much or not enough. The same thing is happening with #monkeypox. 1/ ImageImage
Through COVID social media, I've been exposed to a wider diversity of viewpoints than I was used to. And the way people on the two "sides" are reacting doesn't look all that different. 2/
Some people are angry because they were told not to worry when they needed to worry, while others are pissed that they were told to worry about things they didn’t need to worry about. There’s no way PH policy & science reporting could have threaded that needle. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Aug 5
I have no idea what condition this person might have, but #monkeypox shouldn’t still be producing new lesions at 6 weeks, right? Is this a known phenomenon? Image
Like many of the women on social media claiming to have monkeypox, a quick scan of her posts doesn’t show her saying she actually tested positive. The lesions she photographs could be many things.
I’m trying not to be dismissive of anyone’s fear or pain, but I noted a couple weeks ago this trend of young women on social media who are convinced any skin abnormality is #monkeypox. Over-emphasizing transmission via casual contact encourages this.
Read 6 tweets
Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Aug 1
If you read just one #monkeypox article, make it this one, illustrating both the folly of not listening to people on the ground in the most affected communities & the perils of shaming & stigmatizing sex so much that people won't talk about it. 1/ @NPR

n.pr/3PPiCR5
This Nigerian doctor, Dimie Ogoina (@Dimostic) just addressed a special #monkeypox session at #AIDS2022. 2/
Historically, based on experienced in African countries where #MPX has been known for decades, the virus was often contracted from contact with rodents & was considered difficult to transmit from person-to-person. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Liz Highleyman Profile picture
Jul 31
#Monkeypox vaccine messaging is difficult & conflicting because there's not enough research. Data so far is based on immunogenicity (essentially, antibody production) not real-world effectiveness. Starting with 1 dose is a good strategy to get more people some protection ASAP. 1/
But saying a single dose provides adequate protection is premature. In particular, people with #HIV have a lower response rate & it seems like they should be prioritized for 2nd doses. @dr_demetre says @US_FDA stands by its recommended 2-dose regimen. #AIDS2022 2/
I went into #AIDS2022 #monkeypox media briefing with many questions, but most don't yet have answers, including importance of various transmission routes in the real world, asymptomatic transmission, does HIV influence susceptibility, TPOXX efficacy, can isolation be shorter. 3/
Read 4 tweets

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