Men who have sex with men should “for now” cut back on partners and reconsider sleeping with new people to try to stop the global spread of monkeypox, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Health.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a press conference in Geneva that 98 percent of the more than 18,000 recent cases of monkeypox reported to the agency had been among men who sleep with others men He urged members of that community to take steps to protect themselves amid the public health emergency.
“This is an outbreak that can be stopped if countries, communities and individuals are informed, take the risks seriously and take the necessary measures to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups,” Tedros said.
“For men who have sex with men, this includes, for the time being, reducing the number of sexual partners, reconsidering sex with new partners and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow-up if necessary,” he advised.
These men might also consider avoiding big circuit parties or shirtless raves for now; Rosamund Lewis, monkeypox technical officer at WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, advised these men to reduce “exposure to places that may put you at risk, such as crowded places where there may be a lot of of physical contact between people who are already at risk”.
The new WHO advice on Wednesday goes beyond what the CDC in the US has suggested, which so far has only said that men who have sex with men should avoid skin-to-skin contact with someone who has a rash that could be monkey pox.
The guidance also comes amid outcry from many members of the LGBTQ community over a lack of clear messaging from health authorities and a botched response from the federal government.
Andy Seale, a WHO adviser on sexually transmitted infections, said the advice on reducing sex was “one message in a package of prevention messages that need to reach people.”
People, and particularly men who have sex with men, are also urged to continue to learn about the virus, monitor themselves or others for symptoms and seek medical attention as needed, Seale said.
According to the WHO, smallpox cases have spread to 78 countries, but only five deaths have been reported. About 10% of infected people have been admitted to a hospital to manage their extreme pain.
Lewis said the WHO was trying to walk a fine line in trying to make it clear that while anyone can get monkeypox, it’s currently men who sleep with men who are predominantly affected.
“It’s a very difficult message to get across,” Lewis said.
The “key mode of transmission” of the virus so far has been the “close, intimate, personal and prolonged contact that occurs during sex,” Seale said, but there have also been some cases of domestic transmission.
The WHO convened experts on sexually transmitted infections to discuss classifying monkeypox as an STI, but Seale said that group was not yet comfortable doing so.
“They’ve come to the conclusion that this is clearly transmitted during sex, so they feel comfortable describing this as sexually transmitted, but they haven’t yet felt able to come to the conclusion that it’s an STI “, he said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has cleared the way for nearly 800,000 additional doses of monkeypox vaccine to be distributed in the United States after officially certifying a Danish manufacturing facility.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra described the FDA’s action as “a critical step forward in our plans to strengthen and accelerate our response to smallpox, which includes the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine for people at higher risk of exposure to smallpox.”
The Biden administration has been accused of being overly cautious and slow in its response to the outbreak, which the WHO formally classified on Saturday as a global public health emergency.
Both Tedros and Lewis cautioned that men who have received a shot of the vaccine should continue to exercise caution and not assume they have “instant protection.”
“It takes several weeks for the vaccine to take effect and produce an immune response,” Lewis said, “which means that someone who is getting the monkeypox vaccine should also continue to take protective measures and make safer choices during the time following the administration of the vaccine.”
The company that makes the Jynneos vaccine, the most widely distributed smallpox vaccine in the U.S., says it requires two doses for full protection, but cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are adopting a one-shot strategy single dose for now. to try to get as many shots in guns as possible while the vaccine supply remains limited.