The great majority of cases of monkeypox in this unusual outbreak are guys who have sex with other men. 18 of them spoke with NBC News about their encounters.
Through Benjamin Ryan
Even as Covid-19 regulations have softened, monkeypox has threatened to ruin much-anticipated celebrations for many gay men.
The bulk of the 6,924 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the global outbreak, or MSM, have been reported to be gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. According to researchers, sex-related skin-to-skin contact has most certainly been the main factor in the virus’s current global spread.
Epidemiologists have emphasized that although there is currently a little risk of non-MSM, monkeypox can still spread to other populations.
During this epidemic, monkeypox has a tendency to manifest modestly and has not resulted in any fatalities outside of the 11 African countries where the virus has become endemic since its discovery in 1970. However, 18 gay men who had monkeypox described to NBC News how it can result in unattractive and occasionally cripplingly painful skin lesions – and has kept them stuck glumly indoors.
John, 32, a New York City computer worker who thinks he caught monkeypox from a man he met up with on a recent trip to Los Angeles, said: “The thought of a complete three-week quarantine is very alarming.”
John is one of the rapidly growing groups of 560 Americans who have been diagnosed with monkeypox thus far; experts feel the number is significantly understated given the appallingly inadequate testing. With the most confirmed cases, California, New York, Illinois, and Florida are the most affected states.
To preserve their medical privacy, some of the men, like John, who told NBC News about their experiences with monkeypox requested that only their first names be used. The majority of the males who were interviewed felt compelled to alert people about this new virus that was spreading so alarmingly in their neighborhood. By giving the virus a face, they also want to fight the stigma toward those who catch it.
“I think this is significant,”
A pandemic that was probably sparked by sexual activity and travel
Epidemiologists think they may link mid-spring homosexual men’s gatherings in Western Europe to the spread of monkeypox throughout the world. Many males from other cities attended these gatherings, and some of them reportedly brought the virus with them. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month, out of the first 17 cases in the United States, 16 involved men who had sex with other men, and 14 involved individuals who had traveled to 11 different nations between them in the three weeks prior to the onset of their symptoms.
The majority of the guys who told NBC News they had monkeypox stated they were pretty sure they could link their infections to sexual activities. Many people traveled in the weeks before to show symptoms of the virus.
As of May 18, Justin, 38, who had just returned from a two-week vacation in Europe, claimed to be the second individual in New York City and the 14th overall to receive a monkeypox diagnosis. He said that the symptoms of monkeypox, including high fever, swollen lymph nodes, headache, body aches, chills, and tiredness, were present in his case. Soon later, the obvious lesions began to spread all over his body.
The incubation period for monkeypox usually lasts six to thirteen days, although it can take up to three weeks between introduction to the virus and the onset of symptoms. Although it has not been examined, specialists believe, it is possible that the virus could spread asymptomatically. According to the CDC, the virus is most definitely communicable between two and four weeks after developing active lesions.
Jeff, a university administrator in his mid-30s who lives in the mid-Atlantic, took a few weeks off to travel around Europe in early June. He claimed to have stopped in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin while traveling and engaged in several partners’ intercourse in places like bathhouses and sex clubs.
Jeff said that there were a lot of men in the club and that there were a lot of skin-to-skin contacts. Evidently, nobody is coming down to clean the sling.
As a major authority on monkeypox, epidemiologist Anne Rimoin of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health stated, “Given the danger of transmission through fomites — infected objects — it’s theoretically plausible for monkeypox to be spread in this manner.”
Jeff developed a high fever and headache nine days after arriving home.
