Why is monkeypox more prominent in the gay community

In fact, symptoms are quite similar to smallpox and include fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, cold symptoms such as a cough or sore throat. But public health messages are most effective when targeted at people who are most at risk of a particular condition.

Typically this means skin-to-skin contact, especially contact with the rashes and skin lesions caused by the disease. But the fact that the disease still seems to primarily be occurring in one group means that, with the right interventions, the course of the outbreak could still be changed and that group protected.

Chloe Orkin receives funding from Gilead Sciences, Viiv Healthcare, Astra Zeneca, Merck Sharpe and Dohme and Janssen for advisory boards, lectureships, travel scholarships and I have also received research grants from the same companies to my institution. If given between four and 14 days after exposure to monkeypox, the vaccine may potentially reduce symptoms of the disease.

This is the largest ever global outbreak of the disease. For most people, the disease usually resolves within two to three weeks. Monkeypox does not only concern this community, even though cases are currently over-represented in it.".

Monkeypox is a disease caused by infection with the human monkeypox virus, which comes from the same virus family as smallpox. We know that the virus can persist on surfaces for a long time — sometimes up to several weeks. The WHO has also recommended that at-risk groups limit how many sexual partners they have and take steps to protect themselves from contact.

There are already reports of infections in both women and children. Given the scale of the outbreak, the World Health Organization WHO has now declared the current monkeypox epidemic a global health emergency. But it can also be spread through large respiratory droplets such as coughing and sneezing.

The WHO Monkeypox IHR Emergency Committee has called for response actions to stop human-to-human transmission, including contact tracing and tailored vaccination campaigns, with a priority focus on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Although public health agencies such as the WHO, CDC, ECDC and UKHSA have already done a lot to provide clear, non-stigmatising guidance to at-risk groups, it may be important ensure this information is now disseminated in places where they will have the greatest impact — such as on dating apps, for example.

Many countries are offering vaccinations to sexually active gay and bisexual men who are at greatest risk of contracting the disease. Since early May, more than 23, cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide. This means that it can spread in households through any close personal contact with an infected person — not just as a result of sexual intimacy.

However, “anxiety about contracting monkeypox among many gay men is compounded by negative messaging being disseminated about gay men and the virus, some of which echoes the stigmatizing rhetoric from the early days of the HIV epidemic,” they said.

All this may explain why the virus is primarily spreading through networks of men who have sex with men. This is why getting vaccinated and making sure that everyone has equal access to these vaccines is of such great importance. He called for "not stigmatizing the homosexual community.

While anyone can get monkeypox, the current outbreak is overwhelmingly affecting sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. While anyone can get monkeypox, the current outbreak is overwhelmingly affecting sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

Monkeypox and gay and

Some people also experience very painful sores in the mouth or inside the bottom. Nobody wants to repeat that. Officials noted Monday that most of the people affected reported some level. Monkeypox spreads through close physical contact with an infected person.

Symptoms are also accompanied by a rash that appears in blisters on the face, genitals, the chest and back, and on the hands and feet. Anyone can get monkeypox, but in the latest outbreak, the virus is predominantly spreading among gay and bisexual men.