Monkeypox and gay stigma?
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/monkeypox-who-recommends-gay-bisexual-men-limit-sexual-partners-to-reduce-spread.html
I know in the 80s when HIV was frequently diagnosed within the gay community some attributed it to homosexuality or what they perceived as deviant behavior. So naturally it created a stigma even though clearly HIV isn't strictly something gay people can get.
These days I don't think there is nearly the stigma with gay people there once was, but I'm not sure what to make of this article. 95% of all Monkeypox cases are among gay or bisexual males? I don't imagine that group even constitutes much more than 6% of the population. How much promiscuity are we talking here? Lol. And what stigma might this new (to the U.S.) virus create towards the gay community?
I know in the 80s when HIV was frequently diagnosed within the gay community some attributed it to homosexuality or what they perceived as deviant behavior. So naturally it created a stigma even though clearly HIV isn't strictly something gay people can get.
These days I don't think there is nearly the stigma with gay people there once was, but I'm not sure what to make of this article. 95% of all Monkeypox cases are among gay or bisexual males? I don't imagine that group even constitutes much more than 6% of the population. How much promiscuity are we talking here? Lol. And what stigma might this new (to the U.S.) virus create towards the gay community?
Comments (20)
No we don't because no we ain't. Vaginas are more resilient than arses and better lubricated. Arses tear and bleed during sex and this provides the gateway for transmissiion via the exchange of bodily fluids. The correlation is thus directly observed and the explanation is already well known.
It's unfortunate, but gay sex is medically more risky than straight sex, apart from the dread disease of pregnancy, for which there is no [s]known[/s] legal cure.
You gotta point there, but it may not be as simple as increased chances of anal/rectal abrasions, lacerations, etc. that have been found in those engaged in sodomy that have been identified as easier routes of transmission. To a virus, the monkeypox is one, intact skin is no barrier and so, in a sense, we can't really say that traumatic anorectal injuries are putative channels of infection. Do you see what I mean? It doesn't make any difference at all, oui monsieur?
Had HIV landed in a different European and American group--straight swingers--the history of the disease would have been different, more like its African pattern.
But it didn't. It landed in the gay European and American population where gay men were having large numbers of sex partners. Even within the group of properly promiscuous gay men there were differences in sex practices that affected the pattern of transmission. Monkeypox also landed in the not particularly celibate American gay population.
Chance and contingency isn't everything, however.
Monkeypox is not a new disease (unlike HIV in 1981). There are vaccines and antiviral drugs that are effective. The federal public health response to Monkeypox was sluggish, despite clear information from European countries that the virus could spread rapidly in the gay male population. The CDC and state public health agencies did not act immediately when reports of the first Mpox cases appeared in the early part of summer.
Fast response is crucial when dealing with easily transmitted infectious diseases. If the responsible authorities dither and delay, infections will spread and by the time there are thousands of cases, control (let alone elimination) becomes nigh unto impossible.
Covid was brand new; there was some excuse for dithering, AIDS was brand new; again, some excuse for dithering. Monkeypox, a relative of smallpox, is not new, and the means are at hand to vaccinate and treat. Granted, we hadn't kept a stockpile of the meds because we hadn't seen an outbreak of monkeypox here before.
However: An outbreak of contagious disease leaves one very little time to respond before "the cat is the out of the bag". Compare the flood in Kentucky with Katrina in New Orleans: In KY, the response began immediately. In NOLA, the response was sluggish, and things got worse rapidly. Same thing with Monkeypox.
What I'm trying to say is monkeypox isn't because of gay sex, but gay sex is real dirty and can be easily contracted during intercourse. The only truthful review of such post that gays may contract monkeypox easier, but it isn't to say gay sex is the proprietor, that's false. Be careful if you are a monkey and are going to have gay sex.
I stand corrected. In my humble opinion, one of the worst things anyone could do is refuse to accept that there's a problem for it delays the search/discovery of solutions.
That said you two might wanna look into the statistics of anal sex; someone in another thread claimed that it's more common among heterosexuals than homosexuals. Feels relevant, dunno!
Not sure what the stats show. I'd think hetero anal sex would occur more often in established relationships (and possibly monogamous) as that seems a bit adventurous for a casual hook up, but what does a middle aged suburbanite like me truly know of such things?
What I do know is that HIV and now monkeypox spread among gays at the fastest rate, but I do know heteros got HIV at higher rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. I'd imagine Sub-Saharan sexual activity has it's idiosyncrasies as well, so not sure why their experience was so different than Peoria.
That said, homosexuality just doesn't revolve around (anal) sex, it's a bona fide culture onto itself, complex to boot and we maybe guilty of the fallacy of oversimplifed cause.
According to the NIH:
Quoting Varde
The same question came up in relation to AIDS in the 1980s: does anal intercourse produce the virus? The answer is absolutely not.
Why does anal sex transmit HIV and Monkeypox more efficiently than oral or vaginal intercourse? It has to do with the details of different organs and how viruses are shed and transmitted. You can look it up.
Monkeypox is related to the Variola virus that causes smallpox. Smallpox had a fatality rate of around 30%; Monkeypox is rarely fatal (but still pretty unpleasant). Smallpox and Monkeypox are NOT related to chickenpox (herpes zoster). Smallpox is an ancient disease which killed many millions of people. Monkeypox was discovered in 1958. Rodents and monkeys may both be an anima reservoir of the virus. The virus spread to humans through butchering monkeys (which are eaten in parts of Africa).
Should you have anal intercourse? Sure. Will you get Monkeypox as a result? That depends on what circles you travel in. If you plug into the circle of, say New York gays who are most sexually active, your chances are much higher of getting infected. If you start with the boy next door in rural Georgia, your chances are much much smaller. It is considered good manners to ask if it is OK first.
Why are so many gay men in New York infected with Monkeypox? Because groups (like gym rats or theater workers) tend to mix among themselves. Eventually infectious diseases spread widely, erasing group boundaries. AIDS landed among a group of fairly affluent, similarly employed gay men in New York--like artists, musicians, writers, actors, etc. They went to the same watering holes and had sex with each other.
I stand corrected but lament the fact.
Oh, do you regret not living in Peoria?
Now that you mention it, I quite do (regret not living Peoria)!