A total of 98% of monkeypox infections came from gay or bisexual men, according to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine.."It is important to stress that monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection in the traditional sense; it can be acquired through any kind of close physical contact," said paper author John Thornhill.."However, our work suggests that most transmissions so far have been related to sexual activity — mainly, but not exclusively, amongst men who have sex with men.".The paper, which was released days before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a global health emergency, looked at 528 confirmed infections in 16 countries between April 27 and June 24, 2022..The study found that 41% of those with monkeypox also had HIV, and the median age of the infected was 38. Their median number of sex partners in the prior three months was five, while around a third had visited sex parties or saunas within the previous month.."This research study increases our understanding of the ways it is spread and the groups in which it is spreading, which will aid rapid identification of new cases and allow us to offer prevention strategies," Thornhill said..He said while 13% of the men were admitted to the hospital, there were no reported serious complications or deaths. While monkeypox is known to be a mild illness, it can cause painful blisters that require some people to be hospitalized in order to alleviate their symptoms..The study's findings align with previous papers on monkeypox transmission. A recent study out of Madrid, Spain found 93% of monkeypox cases were among men who have sex with men, while a study released in June by the European Communicable Disease Bulletin found 66 out of 87 monkeypox cases in the UK were among reported being gay and bisexual men..On Saturday, a reporter asked Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, if he feared governments might not take monkeypox as seriously as they did COVID-19, given that the virus primarily spreads among gay and bisexual men.."It is important both that it is taken seriously and that we make collective efforts to support the community affected, and the experience they have had as the most at-risk group, which in this case is men who have sex with men," Ryan said..Canada has so far recorded 681 cases of monkeypox, with the majority occurring in Ontario and Quebec..On July 21, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced $350,000 to support three organizations within the Advance Community Alliance — a pan-Canadian alliance of organizations addressing gay and bisexual men’s health — in order to increase their capacity to respond to monkeypox outbreaks.."Regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and race, anyone can become infected and transmit monkeypox," the PHAC said. "Understanding of the virus is still evolving and information will continue to be provided as it becomes available."
