As a parent of small children, I don?t think I?m alone when I say I have been cautiously optimistic, hoping things will return to? fairly regular programming this fall. But after the last two years, I know that outlook can change at any given moment. And in recent months, one news item in particular has been sold to us as the thing that could blow it all up: monkeypox.
The term ?monkeypox? entered the mainstream this past spring, when the virus started spreading outside of Central and West Africa, where it existed for decades but, up until very recently, had been considered endemic (a term we now know all too well).
By late May, it had spread globally (including to Canada). By late July, the World Health Organization had declared the outbreak a public health emergency. By late August, the Canadian government had reported more than 1,200 monkeypox cases nationally, the majority in Ontario and Quebec. Most confirmed cases that had traceable exposure history were the result of sexual encounters between men, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. So while children and women account for less than 1% of reported cases, the virus is still a concern for parents and families, especially as we prepare to send kids back to school. But just how concerned should we be" We asked the experts.
What is monkeypox"
Part of the same family as smallpox, the first case of monkeypox in humans was discovered in 1970 and it has remained quite rare. It is less severe than smallpo...