'The Gay Vis': Monkeypox and the Harmful Effects of LGBTQ+ Stigmatizatn - VOX ATL

Contents:

• OUTBREAK OF BACTERIAL ILLNS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA HAS LEFT AT LEAST 7 AD
• SOCIAL POSTS PH FALSEHOOD THAT MONKEYPOX N ONLY AFFECT GAY MEN
• ‘THE GAY VIS’: MONKEYPOX AND THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF LGBTQ+ STIGMATIZATN
• STRATEGI ADOPTED BY GAY, BISEXUAL, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN TO PREVENT MONKEYPOX VIS TRANSMISSN — UNED STAT, AUGT 2022
• MONKEYPOX IS NOT A GAY VIS. HAVEN’T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?
• HUMAN IMMUNOFICIENCY VIS, OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMTED INFECTNS, AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR YOUTH
• HIV AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN THE U.S.
• HIV AND ALL GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

OUTBREAK OF BACTERIAL ILLNS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FLORIDA HAS LEFT AT LEAST 7 AD

Feral and state health officials are vtigatg an outbreak of mengocl disease Florida primarily fectg men who intify as gay, bisexual or men who have sex wh of Tuday, at least 24 s have been nfirmed and seven people have died, acrdg to the Centers for Disease Control and outbreak is so severe that the feral health agency is llg "one of worst outbreaks of mengocl disease among gay and bisexual men U.

"Ch-Hong said the risk to the public is low bee mengocl outbreaks tend to be regnal and typilly do not spread om state to he urged people to follow the CDC's advice, which is that anyone who intifi as gay, bisexual or men who have sex wh men gets a mengocl vacce if they live Florida or plan on travelg to Florida. José Romero, director of the CDC's Natnal Center for Immunizatn and Rpiratory Diseas, said a ntued, "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. Recently, social media ers have falsely claimed that monkeypox n only be spread among gay men, but experts and officials say the vis n be transmted to anyone.

SOCIAL POSTS PH FALSEHOOD THAT MONKEYPOX N ONLY AFFECT GAY MEN

And Europe have so far been among men who have sex wh men, experts and officials say the vis n be transmted to FACTS: As monkeypox has spread and followg the World Health Organizatn’s claratn that is a global emergency, social media posts have phed an erroneo narrative that the vis n only be transmted among gay men.

Along wh WHO’s tablishment of monkeypox beg an emergency, a paper published the New England Journal of Medice back Augt reveals that, of nfirmed s, monkeypox overwhelmgly affects gay and bisexual men, wh more than 98% of nfirmed s beg people who intify wh those groups and 95% of s beg as a rult of sexual ntact between April and June of 2022. The data have sparked an crease LGBTQ+ stigmatizatn, as marked by homophobic statements om var thory figur, cludg UT-Dallas puter science profsor Timothy Farage, who tweeted that there should “at least be a cure for homosexualy, pecially among men, ” and var nservative groups around the globe.

In addn, over 18 stat, there are no laws preventg homophobia or transphobia, enablg the anti-LGBTQ+ trends to flourish durg the monkeypox outbreak. “[The feral ernment] has thread this needle of not makg this a gay disease and regnizg that anyone n get , but, right now, is circulatg a certa social work that happens to be among gay and bisexual men. The amg of monkeypox as only beg a disease that gay and bisexual men n ntract and transm puts the entire populatn at risk bee people who are not gay may feel a false sense of secury om the vis.

‘THE GAY VIS’: MONKEYPOX AND THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF LGBTQ+ STIGMATIZATN

AIDS Project of the East Bay Executive Director Gee Mizrahi Jackson told San Francis’s KQED, “If you hear that, for stance, monkeypox is only a gay man thg, you tomatilly check out if you’re not a gay man, and that misrmatn is problematic. Atlanta journalist Ryan Lee wrote an say reuntg his recent experienc wh monkeypox for The Reckong Magaze, “…as a gay man who me of age the 1980s and ‘90s, I feel the terror of beg the first wave of an emergg epimic. David Holland says, “Jt showg up to the [vaccatn] se was announcg that you were gay, and if you were not fortable dog that, then people jt did not get a vacce.

In a recent survey of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, approximately one half reported rcg their number of sex partners, one-time sexual enunters, and e of datg apps bee of the monkeypox outbreak.

STRATEGI ADOPTED BY GAY, BISEXUAL, AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN TO PREVENT MONKEYPOX VIS TRANSMISSN — UNED STAT, AUGT 2022

The multipronged rponse to monkeypox has clud expandg accs to monkeypox vacce and velopg msagg† for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men (MSM) seekg to rce their chanc for acquirg monkeypox.

Stefan Baral reports NIH support om NINR and NIMH; travel support to a meetg foced on HIV among gay men ternatnally om the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and support for participatn on an NIH Data Safety Monorg Board for a study foced on younger gay men and suicidaly. Public health efforts should prrize gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, who are currently disproportnately affected, for preventn and ttg, addrs equy, and mimize stigma, while matag vigilance for transmissn other populatns. Data suggt that wispread muny transmissn of monkeypox has disproportnately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men and racial and ethnic mory groups.

Public health efforts should prrize gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, who are currently disproportnately affected, for preventn and ttg, while addrsg equy, mimizg stigma, and matag vigilance for transmissn other populatns. Likewise, although most s to date have occurred among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, any patient wh rash nsistent wh monkeypox should be nsired for ttg.

MONKEYPOX IS NOT A GAY VIS. HAVEN’T WE BEEN HERE BEFORE?

Current fdgs dite that muny transmissn of monkeypox is wispread and is disproportnately affectg gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men; this is nsistent wh data reported om other untri (3). Public health efforts to slow monkeypox transmissn among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men require addrsg challeng that clu homophobia, stigma, and discrimatn.

Likewise, although most s to date have occurred among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, any patient, regardls of sexual or genr inty, wh rash nsistent wh monkeypox should be nsired for ttg bee close physil ntact wh an fect person or exposure to ntamated materials such as clothg or beddg n rult transmissn.

Clicians and health officials implementg monkeypox tn, ttg, and preventn efforts should also rporate remend terventns for other ndns occurrg among gay and bisexual men, cludg HIV fectn, sexually transmted fectns, substance e, and viral hepatis§§ (8). Public health efforts should prrize gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men, who are currently disproportnately affected for preventn and ttg, addrs equy, and mimize stigma, while matag vigilance for transmissn other populatns. Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC5543709NIHMSID: NIHMS886519INTRODUCTIONGiven timat that more than 5% of the populatn intifi as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT), or qutng, pediatricians are likely to re for LGBT youth at some pot durg practice.

HUMAN IMMUNOFICIENCY VIS, OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMTED INFECTNS, AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR YOUTH

It is important to unrstand that although this populatn may face unique challeng, pediatric provirs n help ensure that they grow up to have healthy sexual and reproductive HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INEQUITIES AMONG LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER YOUTHEpimlogyData monstrate that LGBT youth are more likely than their heterosexual unterparts to experience a wi array of health equi, many of which predispose them to an creased risk of sexually transmted fectns (STIs) and human immunoficiency vis (HIV).

APPROACH TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER YOUTHIt is the health re provir’s rponsibily to openly discs matters of sexual health, cludg sexual orientatn, sexual behavr, and genr inty, wh patients.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS IN LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER YOUTHAmong LGBT youth, clicians should be vigilant about screeng for STIs to crease patient morbidy, prevent sendary STI transmissn, and to crease the risk of HIV, particularly genal ulcerative disease, serve as key risk factors for HIV fectn AYA. Microspy w/wet mountORAmstel’s clil creria (need 3 of 4): (1) homogeno, th whe discharge, (2) >50% clue cells on microspy, (3) vagal fluid pH >4. Tidazolea 2 g po daily × 2dORTidazole 1 g po daily × 5 dORCldamyc 300 mg po bid × 7 dORCldamyc ovul 100 mg travagally at bedtime × 3dTrichomonal InfectnsTrichomonas vagalis (TV), a flagellated protozoa, is the most mon nonviral STI worldwi.

HIV AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN THE U.S.

Trichomonal fectn is associated wh a 2- to 3-fold creased risk of HIV acquisn, 42 and among women wh HIV, TV is associated wh an creased risk for PID.

HIV AND ALL GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

KEY POINTSAlthough lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT) youth face many sexual health equi, cludg creased risk of human immunoficiency vis (HIV), sexually transmted fectns (STIs), and pregnancy, provirs have the opportuny to help young people to grow up to bee sexually healthy adults.

Pediatricians n support the velopment of healthy sexual inti and behavr by discsg sexual orientatn and behavr a nonjudgmental, rpectful, and nfintial is imperative to screen for HIV and regnize symptoms of acute HIV fectn among all adolcents, but special attentn should be paid to young men who have sex wh men and young transgenr women who are disproportnately affected; early diagnosis, lkage to, and retentn re wh effective treatment improv both patient-specific and public health youth, like their heterosexual unterparts, are at risk for syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomonas, and human papilloma vis (HPV), and provirs should be faiar wh the remendatns for screeng of the STIs.