Mpox vaccinations should be recommended for high-risk men, even after outbreak ends, advisers say

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News/AP

Oct. 26, 2023, 11:53 AM EDT


Gay and bisexual men at high risk for mpox infection should get vaccinated for the virus even after the current outbreak ends, government health advisers said Wednesday. The committee’s recommendation now goes to the director to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and — if she signs off on it — is sent out as guidance to U.S. doctors.

More than 30,000 U.S. mpox cases were reported last year. The number dropped dramatically this year, to about 800. But because the virus doesn’t naturally circulate in the U.S., any single case counts as an outbreak, according to the CDC. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals.

The virus was not known to spread easily among people, but cases exploded in Europe and the U.S. in the spring and summer of 2022, mostly among men who have sex with men. Deaths were rare, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks.

A two-dose vaccine, Jynneos, became a primary weapon in the U.S. It’s recommended primarily for men who have sex with men who have more than one sex partner, who have recently had a sexually transmitted disease, or who are at higher risk for infections through sexual contact for other reasons.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/mpox-vaccinations-recommended-high-risk-men-even-outbreak-ends-adviser-rcna122314

[Proud Southern Belle]

1. It's not "mpox". It's monkeypox.

Is there some reason why we can't say the word monkey anymore?

[TexasBushwhacker]

2. Probably because monkeys are rarely a vector in the US n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

3. WHO made a decision to change the name

due fucking racists who attribute it to "Africa" and " (black) Africans".

WHO renames monkeypox as mpox, citing racist stigma

November 28, 2022 11:41 AM ET

Monkeypox disease now has a new name: mpox. The World Health Organization announced the long-awaited change on Monday, saying the disease's original name plays into "racist and stigmatizing language." But it will take time to replace a term that has been used for decades. The first human monkeypox case was recorded in 1970. The virus was initially detected years earlier, in captive monkeys. "Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while 'monkeypox' is phased out," WHO said.

The announcement drew a mixed response from Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor, a global health equity advocate and senior New Voices fellow at the Aspen Institute who has backed changing the name. "Mpox is better than monkeypox because it still contains 'pox', which speaks to the physical nature of the disease," Nsofor told NPR on Monday. "Removing 'monkey' removes the stigma that monkeypox comes with and deals with the possible misinformation" about how it's transmitted, he added, as it might falsely suggest monkeys are the main source of spreading the virus to humans.

But Nsofor questioned the WHO's decision not to eradicate the monkeypox name immediately. The agency says the one-year delay will provide time for numerous publications and records to be updated. It also says the delay will ease experts' concerns about potential confusion over renaming a disease that's currently causing an outbreak. Nsofor warns that using both names at the same time will not bring clarity. "This is confusing and perpetuates everything bad with the name monkeypox," he said.

Monkeypox outbreak brought waves of stigma

The international monkeypox outbreak drastically raised the disease's profile in Europe and the U.S., affecting more than 100 countries in all. And as the disease spread, public health experts say, so did the use of discriminatory language and images online. Critics say the name "monkeypox" plays into racist stereotypes about Black and African people, and it's been used along with anti-gay slurs. They also note that rodents, not monkeys, are the main source of the virus. In May, international journalists in Kenya called out U.S. and European media outlets for repeatedly using images of Black people to illustrate stories about monkeypox — despite the outbreak's fast growth in Europe and the U.S. In July, U.S. health officials urged people not to "propagate homophobic or transphobic messaging."

(snip)

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/11/28/1139403803/who-renames-monkeypox-as-mpox-citing-racist-stigma