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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
While 16 cases of monkey pox have been confirmed in France, more and more fake news is circulating on social networks about this virus. The point with Doctor Gérald Kierzek.
A few days ago, Doctissimo denied fake news which was spreading on social networks, according to which there is a potential link between monkey pox and the anti-covid vaccine. Since then, other conspiratorial discourses have spread in the public sphere, and are beginning to worry citizens.
Monkeypox is not smallpox
The number one problem with the fake news circulating about monkeypox is the confusion between two very different viruses: smallpox and monkeypox. “Monkey pox is not smallpox”warns Doctor Gérald Kierzek.
Highly contagious and deadly, smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s. Vaccination against this disease was officially discontinued in 1979 in France. Until then, French children had to be vaccinated against this pathology. Since the start of the epidemic, many have confused monkeypox with smallpox. But they have very little in common.
“Monkey pox is called smallpox because the skin symptoms are similar but it is no more serious than chicken pox. You don’t have to panic”reassures Dr. Kierzek.
No, monkeypox is not going to cause a lockdown
Online, the fear of a future confinement linked to monkeypox is felt. But in no case did the French, or even international, health authorities raise the idea of potential confinement.
“First, we have no evidence to say today that there would be containment. Second, there are not enough cases for a lockdown. And third, it’s a disease that doesn’t kill people, so it doesn’t require confinement.”, explains Doctor Gérald Kierzek.
Also, monkeypox has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Its spread remains limited. “For the coronavirus, containment was put in place because there was a risk of overflowing the hospital system. That’s not the case here”reassures Dr. Kierzek.
Doctors are clear: restrictions such as lockdowns or mass vaccinations are not the way to respond to this epidemic.
“Cross vaccination is effective against monkeypox. But the epidemic situation does not justify mass vaccination, but to vaccinate contact subjects and health professionals. We are not on a massive spread that would require massive vaccination”continues Dr. Kierzek.
As explained in This articleisolation measures and vaccines essentially concern infected persons or post-vaccination contact cases.
No, the virus did not come from a scientific laboratory
For some, the monkeypox epidemic is the result of a laboratory leak, or even worse, of its use as a biological weapon. This fake news has spread briskly in Ukraine, Russia, China and even the United States.
However, it is possible to identify the origin of a virus by sequencing its DNA. “The genetic sequences we have so far for the virus all trace back to the monkeypox strain that commonly circulates in West Africa. This tells us that this is not a manufactured virus.”explains Professor Peter Horby, director of the Center for Pandemic Sciences at the University of Oxford, interviewed by BBC News May 29.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have already been cases of monkeypox before 2022 in the United States, imported by travelers or animals, with in particular a major outbreak of the virus in 2021.
“Monkey pox is not a new virus, which appears suddenly. It is a virus that has been found in Africa, where there have always been outbreaks of monkeypox.explains Doctor Gérald Kierzek.
“If smallpox – eradicated in the 70s – reappeared today, we could speak of a laboratory leak or a bioterrorist weapon”.
No, the epidemic was not planned
All over social media, internet users are claiming that the current outbreak of monkeypox was programmed.
Many point the finger in particular to Bill Gates, who would have mentioned a future risk of a smallpox epidemic. This assertion without proof or foundation, circulates all over the world, and has been relayed by the Russian media. Once again, this information is false and stems from a conspiracy theory.
Bill Gates, interviewed by the think tank (laboratory of ideas) Policy Exchange UK in November 2021, never predicted a possible outbreak of monkeypox. In the video, the American billionaire believes that more resources should be put in place to stem the next epidemics. He proposes setting up working groups at the level of the World Health Organization, and mentions germ games.
These “germ games” in French would consist of training and preparing for the potential arrival of new viruses. To explain his game proposal, Bill Gates takes the example of smallpox (and not monkeypox): “What if a bioterrorist brought smallpox to 10 different airports? How would we react?”. It is from this extract that the fake news was born.
“Again, monkeypox is not a new virus. We know there will be virus outbreaks soon, whatever they are. It’s part of the natural evolution in an ecosystem where humans have to cohabit with viruses, this has been the case for millennia.reacts Doctor Kierzek.