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Howard G. Smith, M.D. is a former radio medical editor and talk show host in the Boston Metro area. His "Medical Minute" of health and wellness news and commentary was a regular weekday feature on WBZ-AM, WRKO-AM, and WMRE-AM. His popular two-way talk show, Dr. Howard Smith OnCall, was regularly heard Sunday morning and middays on WBZ.

Dr. Smith has adopted audio and video podcasting as conduits for HEALTH NEWS YOU SHOULD USE. Based on the latest medical, health, and wellness literature these reports provide practical information you can use to keep yourself and your family healthy. Many reports have video versions, and Dr. Smith’s YouTube Channel may be found at: http://bit.ly/2rNw6XQ

Trained at Harvard Medical School and a long-time faculty member at Boston Children’s Hospital, he practiced Pediatric Otolaryngology for 40 years in Boston, Southern California, and in central Connecticut.  He is now based in New York City.

If you have questions or suggestions about this content, please email the doctor at drhowardsmith.reports@gmail.com or leave him a message at 516-778-8864.  His website is: www.drhowardsmith.com.

Please note that the news, views, commentary, and opinions that Dr. Smith provides are for informational purposes only. Any changes that you or members of your family contemplate making to lifestyle, diet, medications, or medical therapy should always be discussed beforehand with personal physicians who have been supervising your care.

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  2. Monkeypox Likely Another Pandemic

Monkeypox Likely Another Pandemic

Jun 29, 2022

 

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/GrJf8ShaRRc

 

Monkeypox, the orthodox virus that is a cousin of smallpox, is rapidly spreading around the world and…. within the US.  The CDC has confirmed over 300 cases in at least 28 states with the population-dense states of California, New York, Florida, and Illinois heading the pack.  So far, most of the US cases have involved sexual transmission, but, as the amount of monkeypox virus circulating rises, the virus could spread by more casual contact or through the air on respiratory droplets.

 

The CDC and the Biden administration are ramping up supplies of the preferred vaccine against monkeypox, Jynneos, but the demand far outpaces the available suppl.  That being the case, your best bet is avoiding a monkeypox infection.

 

If you received a smallpox vaccination years ago, you may have some residual protection.  Don’t count on it though.  Monkeypox is spread by contact with the characteristic skin lesions, by bodily secretions from an infected person, and by aerosol droplets from such a person.

 

Avoid prolonged contact with the skin of a person who may be infected or who has a rash with characteristic monkeypox macules, papules, or pustules.   Don’t be having intimate contact with people you don’t know well.  To avoid an infectious cloud of monkeypox in a crowd, use your dependable N95 mask.

 

If you think you have monkeypox, immediately consult your personal medical team or a hospital team.  Testing is available as is treatment with the antiviral agents TPOXX, cidofovir, and Vaccinia Immune Globulin IV.  These agents are not proven to be effective for monkeypox, so avoiding it is the best strategy.

 

What about vaccination?  Healthcare personnel and first responders with a monkeypox exposure risk should be vaccinated.  If you have been exposed to a person with known or suspected monkeypox, speak with your medical team or local public health department about vaccination.

 

One more thing:  monkeypox, like CoVid, has been shown to be mutating.  The best way we can all protect ourselves from yet another devastating pandemic is to avoid being infected.  Mutations occur when the virus replicates within a human host.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/clinicians/treatment.html

 

https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/clinicians/treatment.html

 

#monkeypox #vaccine #STD #aerosol #Jynneos #TPOXX