Men Who Have Sex With Men Acting to Prevent Monkeypox Transmission

MONDAY, Aug. 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are taking actions to reduce their risk for acquiring the monkeypox virus, according to research published in the Aug. 26 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Kevin P. Delaney, Ph.D., from the CDC Monkeypox Emergency Response Team, and colleagues surveyed 824 MSM during Aug. 5 to 15, 2022, to examine strategies adopted to prevent monkeypox transmission.

The researchers note that since learning about the monkeypox outbreak, 48 percent of respondents reported reducing their number of sexual partners, 50 percent reported reducing one-time sexual encounters, and 50 percent reported reducing sex with partners met on dating apps or at sex venues. Almost 20 percent of respondents reported receiving one or more vaccine doses for prevention of monkeypox. Vaccine receipt was highest among Hispanic or Latino men and lowest among non-Hispanic Black or African American men (27.1 and 11.5 percent, respectively) and was 17.7 and 24.2 percent for non-Hispanic White men and for men of other race or ethnicity, respectively. Vaccine receipt was higher in urban and suburban areas than in other areas (27.8 and 14.5 percent, respectively, versus 5.7 to 7.0 percent).

"These findings suggest that MSM are already taking actions to protect their sexual health and making decisions to reduce risk to themselves and their partners," the authors write. "These changes are important to protect MSM from exposure before access to vaccine is possible and after vaccination."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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