“Though
most of the world was put on lockdown over covid with tens of millions
of people losing their jobs, public health authorities have made it
abundantly clear that asking gay men to stop having sex with dozens of
strangers to stop the spread of monkeypox is untenable,” writes Chris Menahan.
The survey found that 311 (99% of 314) cases were men, with just 3 confirmed female cases.
“One hundred and fifty-two cases participated in more detailed questionnaires, implemented from 26 May 2022, and used retrospectively,” the survey found.
“In this data, 151 of the 152 men interviewed identified as gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), or reported same sex contact, and the remaining individual declined to disclose this information.”
Early outbreaks of monkeypox originated at a gay sauna in Spain and a fetish festival in Belgium.
Despite monkeypox cases being overwhelmingly gay men, some critics have suggested that encouragement by health authorities for gay men who suspect they may have caught the virus to refrain from having sex is “homophobic” and a form of “stigmatization.”
As we previously highlighted, the first monkeypox patient to go public revealed that he caught the virus from having gay sex with “around 10 new partners” after being deported from Dubai for testing positive for HIV.
Despite monkeypox spreading via close contact and the World Health Organization saying summer festivals should be limited to stop the spread of the virus, a WHO spokesperson later clarified that gay pride parades should go ahead as normal.
“Though most of the world was put on lockdown over covid with tens of millions of people losing their jobs, public health authorities have made it abundantly clear that asking gay men to stop having sex with dozens of strangers to stop the spread of monkeypox is untenable,” writes Chris Menahan.
The UK Health Agency survey survey also found that 81 per cent of cases were people resident in London.
As we previously discussed, the NHS in the UK posted a message on its website urging people to not touch or consume ‘bush meat’, which is available on the black market in ethnically diverse areas of London and can cause the spread of monkeypox.
📊 Today's publication includes updated epidemiological data, with evidence from detailed anonymised interviews with patients which are helping us to understand transmission and to determine how to target interventions.
— UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) June 10, 2022
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