Is mpox caused by the COVID vaccine? The many myths around the virus

The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency as mpox spreads across several African countries. The outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has claimed at least 450 lives, has reached Central and East Africa, with the Clade 1B strain now moving beyond the continent.

Mpox has spread its wings to Europe and South East Asia where countries such as Sweden, Thailand, the Philippines, and Pakistan are reporting cases of the viral disease.

The escalating crisis has not only prompted a public health emergency declaration but also triggered a wave of misinformation online. We debunk some of the most common misconceptions surrounding mpox.

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No links to shingles or the Covid vaccine

In a recent video circulated on X and Facebook, German doctor Wolfgang Wodarg, known for his anti-vaccine stance, claimed that mpox and shingles exhibit the same symptoms.

According to Mayo Clinic, Shingles is a viral disease that causes a painful rash with blisters on one side of the body or face.  

Wodarg also alleged that the pharmaceutical industry is using fear to profit.

However, this claim is incorrect. Mpox is not a shingles outbreak triggered by the Covid-19 vaccine. The virus, which was first identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1970s, predates Covid vaccines by decades.

Mpox, transmitted from animals and spread between humans through close contact, is part of the poxvirus family, while shingles is caused by the herpes virus. Their symptoms also differ significantly: shingles produces smaller, painful lesions and rashes, contrasting with mpox.

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Mpox does not affect only gay men

Some social media users have dismissed their risk of contracting mpox with homophobic comments.

Richard Martinello, an infectious disease specialist at Yale University, counters this by stating, “There is no infectious disease in the world whose transmission is limited by a person’s sexual orientation.” He emphasises that it is close, skin-to-skin contact—not sexual orientation—that leads to spread of mpox.

The virus is carried by liquid enclosed in vesicles – small pimples that form on the skin – said Antoine Gessain, an mpox expert at the Pasteur Institute, adding that children can be infected through skin contact.

Additionally, heterosexual individuals with multiple partners, like those who contributed to the epidemic in the DRC in late 2023, can also transmit the disease.

No miracle drug

A popular conspiracy theory sparked by a 2022 video by controversial French researcher Didier Raoult has re-emerged on social media.

According to Raoult, a very effective drug used to treat mpox exists but is not made available.

The “most effective molecule” against mpox is “a Japanese drug called Tranilast”, he said in the video. “It will never be marketed here (Europe) because it is extremely cheap,” he added.

Despite Raoult’s claims, Tranilast, which has been approved in Japan and China since 1982 for asthma treatment, has not undergone clinical trials for mpox.

However, vaccination combined with educating at-risk individuals and isolating contact cases, helped the world contain the 2022 mpox outbreak.

Raoult, the former head of France’s IHU Mediterranee research hospital, has been accused by French medical authorities of conducting “the largest ‘unauthorised’ clinical trial ever seen” with hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19.

WHO did not order any lockdowns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has refuted online claims that it has mandated “mega lockdowns” or any type of lockdown due to mpox.

The WHO cannot and has not ordered governments to prepare for ‘mega lockdowns’ or any kind of lockdown due to mpox," the organisation clarified in a statement to AFP.

The UN health body emphasised its role in offering “technical advice and support,” but noted that countries have the “sovereignty to take decisions and actions concerning the health of their populations."

Some conspiracy theorists are framing mpox as a “plandemic,” alleging that it is a pandemic orchestrated by the WHO, which they claim is under the influence of major pharmaceutical companies.

Additionally, misinformation circulated on social media platform including TikTok suggesting that the start of the school year in France was postponed due to mpox. However, the French Education Ministry has dismissed these allegations as false.

With inputs  from AFP