MONKEYPOX – If you have gay relatives or you are yourselfyou probably know that monkey pox is the focus of discussion among MSM, “men who have sex with men” in medical jargon. Among friends, we exchange information about the disease, advice on how to get an appointment to be vaccinated, news of sick relatives…
“Our phone line is currently saturated and we receive a lot of requests […] for vaccination against smallpox”, testified this week Checkpoint, Parisian association for the fight against HIV. But why so much concern within the gay community and, more broadly, among LGBT people?
According to a report from Public Health France published this Wednesday, July 20, a total of 1,453 cases have been confirmed in France, including 678 in Île-de-France. “To date, in France, 96% of cases for which sexual orientation is reported have occurred among men who have sex with men (MSM)”, underlines the agency. “Of 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.”
Mobilization of associations
Faced with this spread of the epidemic in the gay community, associations fighting against HIV, such as Aides, Sidaction or Act-Up Paris, are actively mobilizing with the gay community to inform about the disease, its symptoms and ways to avoid transmission. Above all, they put pressure on the government to speed up vaccination.
Because since last July 11 and the opening of preventive vaccination to groups at risk -namely MSM and trans people with several partners, people in prostitution and those exercising a professional activity in a place of sexual consumption-, the campaign is severely judged by the associations. “If the vaccination is open, the returns from the field show a bottleneck in making appointments. François Braun, we must increase the means to accelerate”, recently written Act-Up Paris. Aides claimed this Thursday, July 21 a “punch vaccination campaign”.
Health authorities have not officially revealed the number of doses made available for the vaccination campaign, citing defense secrecy. A representative of the DGS announced to the Senate on July 13 that 7,500 doses had to be destocked for the expansion of vaccination, and that 5,000 doses per week would then be released. According Stubborn, a total of 30,000 doses would be planned. Questioned by the magazine, Marc Dixneuf, general manager of the Aides association, estimates that it would take 10 times more.
Complications
The challenge is obviously to prevent the epidemic from spreading even further within the MSM community or within the general population. Because if the disease usually heals spontaneously and if it is generally not serious, it can be painful and create complications, in particular children, pregnant women, and people living with HIV. It also requires three weeks of isolation, which may also have economic consequences for patients.
To limit the spread of the epidemic, time is running out. Especially since the vaccine provides good immunity two weeks after the 2nd dose. It therefore takes a month and a half for the vaccination to be really effective. The more time passes, the more the disease is likely to gain ground.
See also on The HuffPost: The links between monkeypox and Covid are not what you think