A adly mengis outbreak is targetg the gay muny. Are hookup apps to blame?

Contents:

• DEADLY MENGIS OUTBREAK AMONG GAY MEN WORRI OFFICIALS
• BACTERIAL MENGIS INFECTNS ACCELERATG AMONG NEW YORK GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• 6 DEAD AMID MENGOCL DISEASE OUTBREAK AFFECTG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA: CDC
• NYC WARNS OF 'ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYG' MENGIS OUTBREAK, URG VACCATN AMONG GAY MEN
• ANOTHER MENGIS SRE EMERG, TARGETG NYC'S GAY MEN
• MENGIS WARNG GIVEN AHEAD OF NYC'S GAY PRI WEEKEND
• MENGIS OUTBREAKS AMONG GAY MEN HAVE EXPERTS PUZZLED
• OFFICIAL: DEADLY MENGIS OUTBREAK IMPACTG GAY COMMUNY STOPPED
• SHOULD WE PANIC ABOUT THE STRA OF DEADLY MENGIS HTG THE GAY COMMUNY?
• CDC VTIGAT ‘ONE OF THE WORST OUTBREAKS OF MENGOCL DISEASE’ US HISTORY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA
• MENGIS CAS RISG AMONG GAY MEN WH HIV
• NEW YORK CY OFFICIALS VTIGATE MENGIS CLTER HIV POSIVE GAY MEN
• FOR GAY MEN, A FEAR THAT FEELS FAIAR
• MEET THE 'RADIL GAY DOCTOR' BEHD NYC'S FALLG HIV RATE

DEADLY MENGIS OUTBREAK AMONG GAY MEN WORRI OFFICIALS

The disease has sickened 22 and killed seven NYC men over the last two four s of mengocl disease among gay men were reported Los Angel unty recent months, there were ncerns that the New York Cy outbreak had spread, but public health officials Los Angel and New York say the stras are not New York Cy outbreak has been lked to parti, onle webs or apps that men ed to fd other men for "close or timate sexual ntact, " acrdg to health officials. Elizabeth Ashford, a spokperson for the fay, exprsed ncern that the fact that Shaad was gay has been ed to unfairly target him and others affected wh mengis. “Normally people thk of an outbreak as a lot of people gettg sick at one pot time – but here the number of s is much higher than we normally expect, ” said rate of mengis  gay men New York Cy has spiked to 60 tim higher than their straight unterparts.

Last fall health officials advised vaccatn for some HIV-posive men, but recently expand the remendatn to clu all gay men statewi who have “traveled to the Cy” and “met through an onle webse, digal applitn ("app"), or at a bar or party” sce September 1, 2012. “Many people are sred, ” said Anthony Fortenberry, the director of nursg at Callen-Lor Communy Health Center, which serv New York’s lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr muni. “This has nothg to do wh beg gay, ” he bacteria is spread by close ntact – such as kissg, or sharg a toothbsh, a cigarette or even a ffee date an timated 6, 700 people have been vaccated New York Cy sce the start of the outbreak;1, 182 people March alone, wh an addnal 3, 357 men vaccated Los Angel a sgle week, April 15th through April Centers for Disease Control and Preventn currently remends that children and teenagers get vaccated but immuny wan, leavg most adults unprotected.

5, 2014Three new s of mengis among gay and bisexual men have been nfirmed New York the last two weeks, health officials said on Friday, an apparent revival of an outbreak that killed seven men the cy om 2010 to 2013. A adly stra of bacterial mengis has been circulatg among gay and bisexual men New York Cy, fectg 22 men and killg seven sce rate of fectn for the vasive mengocl disease appears to have accelerated recent months, wh four new s reported this year. I urge all men who meet the creria - regardls of whether they intify as gay - to get vaccated now and protect themselv om this disease before is too late.

BACTERIAL MENGIS INFECTNS ACCELERATG AMONG NEW YORK GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

However, as dited a recent story published The New York Tim, many members of the gay and bisexual muny of New York are still unaware that the mengis outbreak even exists. The upg gay pri celebratn June, which draw thoands om outsi the cy, is a worrisome opportuny to spread addn to the aforementned men, the CDC remends that adolcents, llege hmen livg dormori, and people travellg to untri where mengis is mon receive the vacce.

13, 2013A bacterial mengis outbreak among gay and bisexual men New York Cy that had raised fears of a new AIDS-type epimic has subsid after an aggrsive vaccatn mpaign, leavg cy health officials utly optimistic that has been ntaed. The outbreak st a pall over gay night life the cy, and raised fears among gay men travelg to and om New York that they might tch the sually transmissible and highly lethal disease. Cy health officials feared that the fectn, which attacks the lg of the bra and spal rd and n be transmted through kissg and even sharg a glass, might flare durg crowd gay pri events late June.

Varma said the number of vaccatns was probably higher, but doctors are not required to report havg given the vacce, and the data e maly om large medil practic and anizatns like the Gay Men’s Health fectn spread among men who met at parti, bars, clubs and through Web s and hookup apps like Grdr.

6 DEAD AMID MENGOCL DISEASE OUTBREAK AFFECTG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA: CDC

As a rult, is difficult to reach out to them through gay anizatns and to get them to e forward for outbreak was ed by a unique stra of bacterial mengis that attacked gay and bisexual men for reasons that rema myster but that Dr. In a Wednday news release, the CDC said they are "remendg gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men get a mengocl vacce (MenACWY) if they live Florida, or talk wh their healthre provir about gettg vaccated if they are travelg to Florida.

NYC WARNS OF 'ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYG' MENGIS OUTBREAK, URG VACCATN AMONG GAY MEN

I urge all men who meet the creria – regardls of whether they're intify as gay – to get vaccated now and protect themselv om this disease before is too late, " add Health Commissner Dr. (HealthDay)—As a natnwi outbreak of steroid-lked mengis grabs headl, health officials New York Cy say a separate, unrelated outbreak is htg gay and bisexual men. The cy's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) say 12 new s of bacterial mengis have arisen among gay and bisexual men sce Augt of 2010, wh the biggt spike s g over the past five weeks.

Officials also strsed that the outbreak among New York Cy's gay mal is entirely separate om the natnal fung-lked mengis outbreak lked to tated steroid jectns that has fected 137 people and killed 12 across 10 different stat this past month. People travelg to New York Cy for Gay Pri events over the June 28-30 weekend are beg told to seek advice about vaccatn for vasive mengocl disease, a report released Monday the Annals of Internal Medice. Ahead of the 2013 Gay Pri weekend, June 28-30, people travelg to NYC were advised to talk to their doctors about mengis Hir / Ben Hir/Picturegroup via AP IMDoctors om Weill Cornell Medil College and the New York Cy Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are raisg the alarm the article due to a adly bacterial mengis outbreak affectg men who have sex wh other Augt of 2010, New York health thori have received reports of 22 s of the disease among gay men or men who have had timate enunters wh other men.

Fortunately, there’s a vacce – the CDC remends that all 11 and 12 year olds be vaccated -- which is why the doctors cid to issue their warng, now, jt before Gay Pri weekend celebratns. As s of mengis, a rare and potentially fatal disease, popped up ci natnwi over the past several years, public health officials noticed a trend: many of those fected were gay men.

ANOTHER MENGIS SRE EMERG, TARGETG NYC'S GAY MEN

There were only 12 mengis s the unty all of 2015, one of which was a gay or bisexual Long Beach, there have been six mengis s this year, half of which were gay men. Last year there were no mengis s the cy, acrdg to cy, who has tracked the unty’s mengis s for a , said was “pretty strikg” that half or more of the s both jurisdictns were gay men.

Centers for Disease Control and Preventn and the New York Cy Department of Public Health lnched a project to vtigate the nnectn between gay men and mengis. Robert Bolan, the medil director at the Los Angel LGBT rearch may also nsir whether mengis n be transmted other ways, such as sexual rout that might be makg gay men more sceptible, Civen said.

MENGIS WARNG GIVEN AHEAD OF NYC'S GAY PRI WEEKEND

The bacteria Neisseria mengidis that leads to mengis is known to lonize the throat and mouth, but rearchers will vtigate whether n also lonize other parts of the body, such as the genals or years ago, there was a siar crease mengis s among gay men L. Only one of this year’s mengis patients was ’s part of the reason why health officials expand their vaccatn remendatns this week om gay men who are HIV-posive or engage high-risk behavrs, such as havg multiple sexual partners, to clu all gay men.

MENGIS OUTBREAKS AMONG GAY MEN HAVE EXPERTS PUZZLED

Outbreak is primarily affectg men who have sex wh men; at least 24 of the s and six of the aths have been among gay and bisexual men, the agency said a news release.

In addn to the tradnal outreach to the news media, the health partment targeted the gay populatn directly through advertisements on blogs, webs, and mobile apps gay men e to fd dat and hookups. "We have learned a lot about the impact we n have g other ways of gettg msag out, " Varma said, notg the partment's close alliance wh gay advocy anizatns which helped gui the mpaign and spread the word.

He was movg back to Brooklyn the followg week and had received an urgent msage om his iend who lived there: some gay men had died om a new stra of mengis, a nasty bug that vas your bra and spal rd and headach, neck stiffns, bouts of vomg, and, ocsnally, ath. In San Francis, the ernment was warng gay men to get vaccated if they planned to travel to New York Cy, pecially weren’t too worried—this wasn’t the 80s, when the thori turned a bld eye to the AIDS epimic and dismissed as a “gay disease. ” If the New York Cy Department of Health knew there was a potentially adly plague sweepg the cy, they’d surely shoot the bugger the butt before grew to a gay-killg later, the monster is still alive.

OFFICIAL: DEADLY MENGIS OUTBREAK IMPACTG GAY COMMUNY STOPPED

) The Department of Health, after ially only remendg mengis vaccatns for HIV-posive men and gay rints northern Brooklyn, revised their posn last month and said that all men the cy who plan to hook up wh other men should get vaccated.

SHOULD WE PANIC ABOUT THE STRA OF DEADLY MENGIS HTG THE GAY COMMUNY?

Here’s who they said should get vaccated:“Any gay man or MSM [man who has sex wh men] who is at least 18 years of age, regardls of HIV stat, and has had timate ntact wh a man they met through a webse (Manhunt, Adam 4 Adam, etc. Mengis isn’t exclive to gays and treatg as a “gay disease, ” as AIDS was treated the 80s and early 90s, is surely unterproductive and possibly the same, might be a good ia to be a ltle b worried about a adly stra of bacteria that, so far, is disproportnately affectg gay men.

CDC VTIGAT ‘ONE OF THE WORST OUTBREAKS OF MENGOCL DISEASE’ US HISTORY AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA

” John Duran, a cy uncilman om Wt Hollywood and one of the few openly HIV-posive policians Ameri, isn’t so sangue and has publicly urged the cy to offer more rourc to gay rints.

”“When I asked over the weekend if there had been any other mengis aths the gay muny, I was told [Shaad’s] was the only one—this wasn’t te, ” Duran said, notg that Rijay Spoon, a 30-year-old real tate agent, was killed by mengis December, a fact that was only publicized this week. “I know there have been crics the ter world and gay muni about the manner which I sound the alarm, ” he said, “but given how savage this fectn is—we have gay men dyg 40 hours [after beg fected]—then ’s really nothg to monkey around wh and send-gus.

MENGIS CAS RISG AMONG GAY MEN WH HIV

”Though Duran fely did get some facts wrong—he ially said that Shaad ntracted the disease at the Whe Party, a major gay event LA—other voic the gay and HIV-posive muni agree that word about this adly stra of mengis needs to spread far and stance, Michael Bror, a blogger for the Huffgton Post’s Gay Voic vertil, enuraged his rears to list rmatn about the mengis outbreak and vacc  Grdr profil.

Via email, he told me, “I was stck by a ment a New York Tim article that said, ‘Many men who are at risk may not intify themselv as eher gay or bisexual, even though they are havg sex wh other men, health officials said. “I believe we need to rekdle that spir of activism, not jt to spread the word about the mengis outbreak, but to reverse the alarmg rurgence of new HIV fectns among gay men, pecially among young gay men, and most pecially among young gay men of lor. ”At the very least, let's be aware of mengis and try to make sure no one else di of this thg—we've got enough to worry ’s where you n fd more rmatn about mengis:For vacc Los Angel: vacc New York vis the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (446 Wt 33rd Street, 7th floor) on the dat:Wednday, April 24, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMFriday April 26, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMWednday, May 1, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMFriday May 3, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM@mchsunrlandMore by Mchell: The Gay Sex Club Next to the Vatin Is the Sadst Place on EarthBety and the PlagueMeet the Bad Moms Club.

NEW YORK CY OFFICIALS VTIGATE MENGIS CLTER HIV POSIVE GAY MEN

The US Centers for Disease Control and Preventn and Florida Department of Health are vtigatg “one of the worst outbreaks of mengocl disease among gay and bisexual men U.

FOR GAY MEN, A FEAR THAT FEELS FAIAR

CDC is remendg that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men get the mengocl vacce if they live Florida, or talk to their health re provir if they are travelg to the state. “Bee of the outbreak Florida, and the number of Pri events beg held across the state g weeks, ’s important that gay and bisexual men who live Florida get vaccated, and those travelg to Florida talk to their healthre provir about gettg a MenACWY vacce. The threat to the general US populatn is low, the CDC says, but there are notably high numbers of monkeypox s among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men.

“When reviewg prelimary data for 2022, our team was surprised there was more disease among people wh HIV than would have been expected based on recent years' data, ” she get a more precise picture, Rubis and her lleagu then exclud all s that had been part of one specific (and large) outbreak last year that occurred mostly wh gay men. ” That refers to a scenar which unntrolled HIV leav patients wh a weakened immune system, and an abily to fight off Amerins livg wh HIV regularly take antiretroviral meditns now, and typilly have extremely low or even untectable levels of the said vaccatn agast mengocl disease has not been routely remend for gay and bisexual men unls an outbreak a rult, many people wh HIV rema unvaccated, though an effective -- though not foolproof -- vacce (MenACWY) is available. The ernment’s startlg apathy toward AIDS victims was likely a direct rult of Reagan’s homophobia: The print had n on a vehemently anti-gay platform, and, as his Surgeon General C.

” He acknowledg that there have been “some small exampl of llaboratn” between public health officials and gay social works, but claims that “there are many more exampl of provotn.

MEET THE 'RADIL GAY DOCTOR' BEHD NYC'S FALLG HIV RATE

AdvertisementSKIP Ghis for The New York TimMay 17, 2013At around 4 on a Saturday morng, a time when most of the gay bars New York have closed and locked their doors, a steady stream of young and middle-aged men, almost all shirtls and some stripped down to their boxer briefs, have found their way down a dark stairwell and to a maze of basement rooms, where the dér n bt be scribed as fallout-shelter have e to Paddl, an after-hours sex club Chelsea, not yet ready to end their eveng.