Almost 22,000 cases have been diagnosed in the current outbreak reported in 94 countries, mostly in gay or bisexual men (98%). In the U.S., there were 4,907 cases reported. As of June 23, 786 cases were reported in California, with ~1/3 of them in San Francisco.
New York City, San Francisco and the State of California have all declared monkeypox a public health emergency within the last week.
Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases specialist and professor of medicine at UCSF, uses the San Francisco Chronicle as a platform to educate the public. Click here to read about what she wrote about the monkeypox to allay fears and raise awareness for the public. In short, the following are ways to mitigate the spread of monkeypox
- Vaccinate every gay and bisexual man as soon as possible while the monkeypox vaccines are in limited supply
- Should infections be found in the heterosexual populations also, vaccinate all sexually active individuals
- Use harm reduction messages: The CDC and WHO both advise avoidance of sex with those with active lesions and appropriately targeting their messages to the gay male community
- Most individuals with monkey pox do not need treatment. Dr. Gandhi mentioned that skin lesions were noted in 95% of individuals, mostly in the anus and genital regions (73%); the trunk, arms or legs (55%); the face (25%); and the palms and soles (10%).
- If the lesions are very painful or in multiple places, an oral antiviral, tecovirimat, can be obtained from the CDC for treatment.