Chicago The United States declared monkeypox a public health emergency last week, an effort to bolster the US response to contain the outbreak.
The virus continues to spread among gay and bisexual men, but experts say the disease could spread to other populations, especially because of a lack of vaccines. Monkeypox is spread through contact with pus-filled sores and is rarely fatal.
here is the situation monkeypox Now and some other populations US experts believe may be at risk:
Who is getting monkeypox now?
Last month, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global public health emergency. So far, 26,500 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 80 countries where the virus is not endemic, according to a Reuters tally.
In the United States, 99.1% of American monkeypox cases were assigned to the male sex at birth as of July 25, according to a technical report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among male patients, 99% reported having sexual contact with other men.
About 38% of cases were reported in white, non-Hispanic men. Another 26% were among black men and 32% were Hispanic men.
The pattern of sexual transmission in males is not specific. In Africa, where monkeypox has been spreading since the 1970s, 60% of cases occur in men, and 40% in women.
One reason may be that the virus is “transmitted very efficiently through anal receptive intercourse and to a lesser extent oral sex,” Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease epidemiologist and an editor-at-large for Kaiser Health News.
Who else is at risk?
Although the current explosion of cases has been in men, experts say there is no biological cause. virus Men who have sex with men will remain largely within the community.
“We know for certain that it will spread to family members and other non-male partners who have had people,” said Dr. Jai verma said. He said that this virus can also spread through massage parlors or spas.
The real question, he said, is whether it spreads as efficiently in those groups as it spreads in close sexual networks of men who have sex with men.
Experts point to the spread of HIV as a possible indicator of where the virus will go next.
“My biggest fear is that as we try to control it, it’s going to seep into our social geography with fractures and where HIV has done, and it’s going to seep into communities of color in the rural South. Greg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at Yale University and a prominent HIV/AIDS activist.
They are places with limited infrastructure for testing, vaccines and treatments.
Gounder is particularly concerned about infections among black women, who account for the largest share of new HIV infections in the United States, and already suffer from high rates of maternal complications and death.
Who else can put me at risk?
Other at-risk settings include college dormitories, health clubs, and sports teams.
Gounder is aware of some sports leagues preparing for possible infections, noting that sports such as wrestling involve close skin-to-skin contact.
Wrestling, football, rugby and other sports teams have previously reported outbreaks of the superbug MRSA, according to the CDC.
“I think it’s something we need to think about and be prepared for,” she said.
Employers may also need to start preparing. Gounder said that some theaters in New York, for example, are considering how they can protect their employees from potential monkeypox infection through exposure to shared clothing.
“We’re still at the beginning of this, but I’m encouraged to see that some are already thinking about it.”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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