New study details how gay men helped curb the spread of mpox & stop the epidemic from getting worse
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.However, this new study found that viral spread began to decline before the vaccine roll-out had a big impact.
Even before 10% of gay guys were vaccinated, mpox showed signs of peaking in the US.They conclude that gay men temporarily reducing their number of sexual partners played a big role.
It could be the main reason the mpox epidemic subsided as quickly as it did.“Once the mpox epidemic was recognized, behavioral modification in the men-who-have-sex-with-men community resulted in a sharp decline in [the rate of transmission] in North America ahead of vaccination rollout in the U.S.,” concluded a team led by Miguel Paredes, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.The results appeared last week in the journal, Cell.According to the CDC, in the US in 2022, there were 31,698 known cases of mpox and 56 deaths.
The majority of deaths were in people who were immunocompromised, including those with HIV.The outbreak was first reported in the UK in May 2022.
