A theory that the recent outbreak of monkeypox may be linked to sexual activity has left the gay community unhappy after battling the previous and continuing stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, said the director of the LGBTQ + Center.
David Hawkins, executive director of the LGBTQ2 + Center in Beaconsfield, Quebec, told CTV News Channel on Saturday that the situation was disappointing and worried that the monkeypox conversation would indirectly affect and stigmatize LGBTQ2 + lesbian lesbians. , transgender, queer, two spirits and others – again a community.
“We have very strong NGOs that are still working to destigmatize HIV and AIDS, and they still have a lot of work to do, but I think the reality is that we may have to start. leading this conversation about monkeypox, “Hawkins said.
A number of Western countries, including Canada, have reported cases of monkeypox.
First discovered in 1958, smallpox is a rare disease caused by a virus that belongs to the same family as the one that causes smallpox. The disease was first detected in colonies of monkeys used for research and has been reported mainly in Central and West African countries.
Monkeypox usually causes fever, chills, rash, and lesions on the face or genitals and can be spread by close contact through respiratory droplets or body fluids with an infected person or their contaminated material, such as clothing or sheets. However, infection usually occurs through contact with infected animals, such as wild rodents and primates.
As of Monday morning, the World Health Organization (WHO) had registered more than 90 cases in a dozen countries, but health officials said monkeypox was not COVID-19.
A report in the Associated Press on Monday quoted a leading WHO adviser as saying that the unprecedented outbreak, while “accidental” and unlikely to be widespread, could be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium.
UK officials say a “significant proportion” of UK and European cases have involved young men who have not traveled to Africa and who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men. Authorities in Portugal and Spain said their cases involved men who had mostly had sex with other men and whose infections were picked up when they sought help for lesions in sexual health clinics.
The monkeypox has so far not led to widespread outbreaks outside Africa, where it is endemic to animals.
Most people recover within a few weeks without hospitalization, and smallpox vaccines are effective in preventing monkeypox. Health officials say no deaths have been reported in the current cases.
Quebec’s health department said five cases had been confirmed in the province on Friday, and the Public Health Agency of Canada was investigating about two dozen other cases.
Toronto health officials said Saturday they were investigating the first suspected case of monkeypox in the city.
Speaking to CTV’s Power Play on Friday, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said that given the monkey’s long incubation period, he expected it to “grumble for a while”, potentially weeks.
“Such good hand hygiene and if people are in close proximity to a certain case, the mask would help,” he said.
With files from CTVNews.ca Writer Solarina Ho, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
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