Thanks for scaring the living hell out of me, although I know that was not your intent, Michelangelo. The story you relate isn't just similar to those we read in the early HIV epidemic, but even more creepily, to those we read long before it was even called AIDS, but rather GRID, back before the virus itself had even been clearly identified.
And what makes this story particularly disturbing is this: Unlike during those very disturbing times, we know that this lethal pathogen is a virus, that there's a vaccine for it, and that there is a readily identifiable population that can be targeted for immediate suppression of this serious and now no longer "looming" public health crisis.
I write this not as a gay man, but rather as a hemophiliac; part of a group of people who were almost nearly wiped off the face of planet earth due to fecklessness and indifference by government and infighting by ostensibly responsible public health NGOs in the '80s.
"And The Band Played On." We will see the sequel unless:
People like you keep using your forum to write about this until the government and the media gets up off their dead asses and does something. Please keep on them all about this. Thank you.
A good, balanced take. I remember well the dark days of AIDS, when it didn't have a name. Though we are in a much better position now, it's hard to shake the thought that if it weren't perceived as a "gay disease," government action on monkey pox would be much more robust.
If you think Mr. Signorile's account is harrowing, hie thee over to Vice.com's site for a gay man's perspective on contracting and the subsequent quest for treatment for Monkeypox. I moved back to the bible belt in '90 to escape AIDS and funerals. This slow walking indifference to information sharing from the government is about par for course when they're crafting their messaging campaign...
Great article with much useful information. I just wish I had a subscription to the NYT so I could read the attached articles. Please keep us informed, Michaelangelo!
I worry that the 2020s will be known as the Viral Decade--not for YouTube videos, or TokTik sensations, or Instagram stars. No, for actual viruses. We're only two-and-a-half years into the decade, and look at us: willfully denying the continued ravages of one virus (COVID-19) and completely unable to get help to those who need it for another (Monkeypox).
Lord only knows what years three through ten have in store.
Jesus H Christ.
Thanks for scaring the living hell out of me, although I know that was not your intent, Michelangelo. The story you relate isn't just similar to those we read in the early HIV epidemic, but even more creepily, to those we read long before it was even called AIDS, but rather GRID, back before the virus itself had even been clearly identified.
And what makes this story particularly disturbing is this: Unlike during those very disturbing times, we know that this lethal pathogen is a virus, that there's a vaccine for it, and that there is a readily identifiable population that can be targeted for immediate suppression of this serious and now no longer "looming" public health crisis.
I write this not as a gay man, but rather as a hemophiliac; part of a group of people who were almost nearly wiped off the face of planet earth due to fecklessness and indifference by government and infighting by ostensibly responsible public health NGOs in the '80s.
"And The Band Played On." We will see the sequel unless:
People like you keep using your forum to write about this until the government and the media gets up off their dead asses and does something. Please keep on them all about this. Thank you.
A good, balanced take. I remember well the dark days of AIDS, when it didn't have a name. Though we are in a much better position now, it's hard to shake the thought that if it weren't perceived as a "gay disease," government action on monkey pox would be much more robust.
If you think Mr. Signorile's account is harrowing, hie thee over to Vice.com's site for a gay man's perspective on contracting and the subsequent quest for treatment for Monkeypox. I moved back to the bible belt in '90 to escape AIDS and funerals. This slow walking indifference to information sharing from the government is about par for course when they're crafting their messaging campaign...
Great article with much useful information. I just wish I had a subscription to the NYT so I could read the attached articles. Please keep us informed, Michaelangelo!
I worry that the 2020s will be known as the Viral Decade--not for YouTube videos, or TokTik sensations, or Instagram stars. No, for actual viruses. We're only two-and-a-half years into the decade, and look at us: willfully denying the continued ravages of one virus (COVID-19) and completely unable to get help to those who need it for another (Monkeypox).
Lord only knows what years three through ten have in store.