Article Reflection No. 18 (7/24/2022)

(Note: Red- Edits After Second read)

Article: W.H.O. Declares Monkeypox Spread a Global Health Emergency

Photo Credit: Newsweek

In the article “W.H.O. Declares Monkeypox Spread a Global Health Emergency” by Apoorva Mandavilli, the journalist describes the once-neglected disease’s international effect, which has been declared on the basis of non-consensus. A disease with side effects of fever, sharp pain in the lower body, and a distinguishing rash, pregnant women, children, older adults, and some of the L.G.B.T.Q. community are susceptible to suffering severely from this disease. Monkeypox, endemic in Nigeria, has spread widely and quickly across at least 70 nations, including the United States. Currently, there are two types of inoculants for Monkeypox, with the newer and safer one being Jynneos, which the U.S. helped create. With approximately 3,000 cases on record, the relatively small number of vaccine spots for Monkeypox has filled up quickly.

According to Mandavilli, when the W.H.O. met to discuss Monkeypox Spread in June, there was no agreement on what should be done. The essential question, Mandavilli writes, was one or the either: would declaring an international emergency earlier be more beneficial compared to stating it when disaster struck?

Several weeks ago, I read an article about a detection of a small number of Monkeypox cases in the U.S. I recall feeling worried—worried about a new pandemic, worried that this disease will become even more harmful both in case numbers and mutation severity, worried about the future. How Monkeypox has caught the nation’s attention goes to show how unexpected things happen, with little, or none, to stop it. Worsening environmental factors that contribute to closer contact between wild animals and humans. Who knows how politics will play into this new disease and the restrictions that may or may not come with it?

To wrap up her writing, journalist Apoorva Mandavilli refers to a quote from Dr. Isabella Erkele, a clinical virologist based in the University of Geneva who stated that, despite “ ‘so many open questions’ ”, observing various nations’ responses to Monkeypox can address many unknowns (Mandavilli 45). Despite many disputes amid alliances and enemies, nations need one another because they need to work together in order to prevail over global outbreaks. What the virologist stated reminded me of Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s autobiography, My Own Words. In this collection of speeches, Ginsberg emphasizes a common dispute among the nine Justices: whether or not the Supreme Court should reflect on other Court’s verdicts on similar cases. While she stood in favor of reflection, former Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia was in opposition. The idea of seeing others’ responses to situations to help make decisions also relates to how history rhymes with itself. (Although the common saying is “history repeats with itself”, there is no instance where it literally does so; not all factors of events unfold in exactly the same ways in two historic times.) To prevent making the same mistakes, presidents, leaders, and students inspect the past, seeking similar events and what arose in those events, helping answer these “ ‘open questions’ ” (Mandavilli 45).

(smth about referring to other nations’ ways of dealing with monkeypox, → similar to reflecting back on history and learn from history’s mistakes when history happens to rhyme with itself.

Vocab:

[Definitions from Merriam-Webster Dictionary]

Capitulation (n.) act of surrendering/yielding. 2) set of terms/articles constituting an agreement between governments

Entrench (v.) to establish solidly