“96% of cases where sexual orientation is reported occurred in men who have sex with men“, underlines the French public health agency. It adds that “among the cases for which information is available, 74% report having had at least 2 sexual partners in the 3 weeks before the onset of symptoms“.
Same story with the World Health Organization: “the cases identified are, for the time being, mainly, but not exclusively, young men who have had sex with men“. She nevertheless specifies that “we are all concerned“.
1453 cases were confirmed in France as of July 20, including one in Martinique on July 15.
Although the prevalence among homosexual and bisexual men is established, sexual and romantic orientation is not a condition for the transmission of monkeypox. However, given the sociology of contamination, targeted communication has been implemented by Public Health France or even vih.org.
Sexosafe.fr, a site of Public Health France, thus recalls that monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted infection, but that “sexual intercourse meets all the conditions for contamination“. Exposure to multiple sexual partners actually increases the risk of contamination.
To note that the cases identified remain mild, the disease recovers in two to three weeks and no deaths are to be deplored in France. Despite this, the stigmatization of the homosexual community worries, and dFor the past week, the subject has been at the center of his discussions.
For the association fighting once morest LGBTphobia, KAP Caraïbe, the subject is not to be taken lightly. She fears that the search for scapegoats will lead to homophobic attacks.
Brice Armien-Boudré, vice president of the KAP Caraïbe association, talks regarding the two opposing camps within the community itself, for which the trauma of the stigma of the AIDS years is still alive:
In Martinique, in the LGBT community, the subject sparks heated discussions. There are two opposing arguments: on the one hand, the majority of people who have been diagnosed are men who have sex with men. But on the other hand, given the mode of transmission, it’s a safe bet that from the moment we go out, where we meet people, we are more likely to be contaminated. The virus does not know the difference between one sexual relationship and another. There is therefore the danger of being stigmatized when this disease is transmitted like Covid or any other easily transmitted disease, even without sexual intercourse.
