We do continue to say (based on real science) that the overall risk to US residents, generally, is small — but among the communities that share intimacy, male to male — the risk of infection and transmission is… moderately high. SF is the latest on the US list, to see such Clade 1b cases.
Please — listen to sensible public health/life science. Here’s the local paper of record, “The Chron“, on all these developments:
. . .San Francisco public health officials on Wednesday confirmed the city’s first case of clade Ib mpox, a strain of the virus that officials say may cause more severe illness than the type behind the outbreak in 2022.
The case was identified in an unvaccinated San Francisco adult who was hospitalized and is now improving, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The person reported close contact with someone who had traveled internationally, the agency said.
Health officials stressed that the risk to the general public remains low. But they urged people at higher risk of exposure to get fully vaccinated with the two-dose mpox vaccine….
“SFDPH is closely monitoring mpox. While clade Ib mpox cases remain rare in the United States, clade II mpox cases continue to occur in San Francisco and throughout California,” Dr. Susan Philip, the city’s health officer, said in a statement.
“This development reminds us just how important it is to be fully vaccinated against mpox if you are at risk. With summer travel and events quickly approaching, now is a great time to seek the mpox vaccine….”
As we’ve repeatedly said, the higher risk community here is largely a tightly overlapping Venn Diagram, with the male communities that have sex with other men. That would be true here in SF, as well.
So, go get… both doses — fully vaccinated, right away — there are free clinics all over the Bay Area. Stay safe.
[Onward, to a world premiere of new musical work, called Safronia commissioned by the Lyric Opera here, tomorrow night — should be a vibrant, and complex — series of themes, based on the US history of “The Great Migration”, to Chicago — by people of color, from the South over the last century and a quarter.] We will report/review, on Sunday… smile.
नमस्ते
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