Lay media reporting of monkeypox in Nigeria

Monkeypox (Mpox) virus isolation and ultrastructural characterisation from a Brazilian human sample case

BACKGROUND

According to the last 2023 Monkeypox (Mpox) Outbreak Global Map from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 100 countries with no Mpox infection report cases. Brazil stands out in this group and is the second country with the highest number of cases in the last outbreak.

OBJECTIVE

To contribute to knowledge of the virus infection effects in a cellular model, which is important for diagnosis infections not yet included in a provider´s differential diagnosis and for developing viral inhibition strategies.

METHODS

We describe a virus isolation protocol for a human clinical sample from a patient from Brazil, the viral growth in a cell model through plaque forming units (PFU) assay, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

FINDINGS

We follow the viral isolation in Vero cell culture from a Mpox positive clinically diagnosed sample and show the infection effects on cellular structures using a TEM.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the impact of viral growth on cellular structures and its replication kinetics may offer better strategies for the development of new drugs with antiviral properties.

Stigmatizing Monkeypox and COVID-19: A Comparative Framing Study of The Washington Post's Online News

BACKGROUND

Stigma relating to health can result in a broad range of vulnerabilities and risks for patients and healthcare providers. The media play a role in people's understanding of health, and stigma is socially constructed through many communication channels, including media framing. Recent health issues affected by stigma include monkeypox and COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES

This research aimed to examine how The Washington Post (WP) framed the stigma around monkeypox and COVID-19. Guided by framing theory and stigma theory, online news coverage of monkeypox and COVID-19 was analyzed to understand the construction of social stigma through media frames.

METHODS

This research used qualitative content analysis to compare news framings in The Washington Post's online news coverage of monkeypox and COVID-19.

RESULTS

Using endemic, reassurance, and sexual-transmission frames, The Washington Post predominantly defined Africa as the source of monkeypox outbreaks, indirectly labeled gays as a specific group more likely to be infected with monkeypox, and emphasized that there was no need to worry about the spread of the monkeypox virus. In its COVID-19 coverage, The Washington Post adopted endemic and panic frames to describe China as the source of the coronavirus and to construct an image of panic regarding the spread of the virus.

CONCLUSIONS

These stigma discourses are essentially manifestations of racism, xenophobia, and sexism in public health issues. This research confirms that the media reinforces the stigma phenomenon in relation to health through framing and provides suggestions for the media to mitigate this issue from a framing perspective.