Monkeypox Virus and Being Careful

JupiterKid

As most of you know, the Monkeypox virus is spreading quite fast among the gay male community in terms of men who have sex with other men. The WHO have now declared Monkeypox a global health emergency. The HSE believes that there are now 100+ confirmed cases in Ireland, nearly all among gay and bisexual men and the real numbers infected are probably higher.

Although scientists don't believe monkeypox is a STI per se, close physical contact (ie. skin to skin) is believed to be the main transmission route and obviously intimate contact between two people is the manner in which the virus is spreading.

Here is a link to the World Health Organisation (WHO) information page on Monkeypox:

https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/monkeypox?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-IPpj5m8-QIVx-vtCh1h0wu2EAAYASAAEgJ_ZvD_BwE

There does seem to be quite a bit of misinformation and confusion about Monkeypox and how it is spread and there is now an urgent need for the HSE to roll out a full public awareness campaign targeted at the gay male community. Also the need for an effective vaccine and its availability is apparent - currently the smallpox vaccine appears to afford 80% protection from Monkeypox but its availability is very limited at present. Stocks of smallpox vaccine are low as the virus was eradicated by the WHO in the late 1970s.

Here is another link to a GCN article on an Irish gay ACT UP activist who currently has the monkeypox virus and its symptoms:

https://gcn.ie/act-up-dublin-activist-thomas-strong-monkeypox/

Reading the article did make me ponder - with the advent of the PrEP treatments in recent years, it seems a large number of gay men and men who have sex with men have thrown condoms - and caution - to the wind. This in my opinion is a serious mistake: the fast spread of monkeypox may be related to the lack of awareness of the disease and its routes of transmission, the lack of using protection during penetrative anal sex, the whole "Chemsex" phenomena and the general promiscuity of many gay men which is doing us no favours when it comes to being highly vulnerable to the next virus or STI that comes along. Scientists have been warning us about a new strain of treatment-resistant HIV that may lurk around the corner and other new incurable/fatal STIs for years now.

Should we as gay men be taking more responsibility for our sexual health by being more careful or even abstaining from casual hook-ups and sex whilst the monkeypox issue becomes clearer and is addressed properly?

It seems to be a taboo now among the LGBT community to discuss the subject and the fact that with freedom also comes responsibility, to protect ourselves and others around us. There seems to be many gay and bisexual men who are either blissfully unaware, or willfully ignorant of the dangers and a large sense of selfishness and entitlement which will not do us any favours at all. It's great to be able to hook up for random fun - but there also has to be responsibility and I see precious little of that coming from the gay male community.

Has anyone here on this forum been affected by Monkeypox?

Would you change your sexual habits and practices on account of the new virus?

Do you share my view that we need to take more personal responsibility on this matter?

mr.anonymous

Yes we need more personal responsibility.

Why can't the HSE say MSM should abstain from sex (outside monogamous relationships) for a month?

https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/monkeypox/

I don't want MSM, gay or bi men to be stigmatised. But we know the science: it takes up to 3 weeks for symptoms of a virus predominantly found in those groups to appear.