Why monkeypox affects gays

While anyone can get monkeypox, the current outbreak is overwhelmingly affecting sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. According to emerging viruses specialist Yannick Simonin, anyone who has close physical contact with another person who has contracted monkeypox is at risk, regardless of their sexual orientation.

‘I felt like I was dirty’: experiences of gay men diagnosed with mpox in England | aidsmap

A long history of work on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and early studies of the current outbreak suggest the answers may be linked: The virus may have made its way into highly interconnected sexual networks within the MSM community, where it can spread in ways that it cannot in the general population. Monkeypox (mpox) has disproportionately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM); the percentage of MSM with immunity due to vaccination or infection varies among jurisdictions.

Anyone can get monkeypox, but in the latest outbreak, the virus is predominantly spreading among gay and bisexual men. Officials noted Monday that most of the people affected reported some. This outbreak was first identified in the UK, Portugal and Spain, later why monkeypox affect gays across Europe and the Americas, and remains an issue in several countries in the global south.

Monkeypox virus, or MPXV, is an emerging threat to public health. The bias against behavioural interventions and those tailored for key why monkeypox affects gays was overcome when the programs addressed a health condition that was widely understood to be linked to the population the program was tailored to. Others have warned that connecting MPXV to an already stigmatized community will worsen stigma towards gay sex.

During the outbreak, HIV-negative gay and bisexual men who had little experience with stigmatising illnesses found their mpox diagnosis to be particularly traumatic and a personally threatening experience. Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic manufactures the only government-approved vaccine to prevent monkeypox.

James Gallagher explains what it is and if we should be worried. Stigma fears. And it just kind of really sped away suddenly. Social attitudes that suggest that having a particular illness or being in a particular situation is something to be ashamed of. It impacted me, rather than it being up, down, up down, it was just a long-term stream of depression […] I think there was obviously some long-terms impacts of it on the brain.

While some experts, including the WHO, have been reluctant to strictly associate monkeypox with GBMSM or LGBTQ people to avoid stigmatizing a particular population, the current spread of monkeypox through sexual contact suggests that social and sexual networks among GBMSM may be important drivers of the outbreak and therefore critical targets of resources for prevention and treatment.

Related topics. The virus is not a sexually transmitted infection. The researchers also interviewed four stakeholders involved in the response, two clinicians and two from community organisations.

The Global Impact of Monkeypox on LGBTQ People - Williams Institute

However, since it is self-limiting and typically not life-threatening, it was considered to be less severe than HIV. In Mexico, for why monkeypox affect gays, the government has refrained from acting to mitigate the particular risks facing GBMSM, despite the warnings by researchers. Got a new rash?

More news from United Kingdom. What is Monkeypox? Glossary stigma Social attitudes that suggest that having a particular illness or being in a particular situation is something to be ashamed of. For this reason, many preferred to seek care at sexual health clinics, which were felt to have the cultural skills necessary to support gay and bisexual men without worsening stigma.

Usually I felt like I had dignity in the [health] service and the way I am treated by the government and the likes of that. In Maya global outbreak of monkeypox spread rapidly among the sexual networks of gay and bisexual men. Is it going to spread?

Available now on BBC iPlayer. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U. Recommendations to Policymakers and Public Health Officials. If you have a new and unusual sore or rash it's advised that you contact your local sexual-health clinic, but don't turn up for an in-person appointment unannounced. Current U. However, before last year, most people in Europe and North America had never even heard of the disease.