Monkeypost Manners: Navigating a Virus Affecting the Way We Live and Love

“Let’s do it again,” I thought. Especially for those of us seeking intimacy, it reminded us just how terrifying the coronavirus was just two years ago. For those of us who lived through the 1980s and 1990s, the intersection of sex and HIV/AIDS is embedded in our DNA. So is the stigma and prejudice against people living with HIV, especially queer men.

Monkeypox is a ‘public health emergency’ declared by U.S. Secretary of Health

Monkeypox is a smallpox-like virus with more than 6,600 reported cases in the United States as of August 1 (perhaps underestimated). Cases are spiked in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles (all but two have reported). Almost all cases so far have occurred among men who have had sex with men, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the virus is not classified as a sexually transmitted disease because it spreads through the skin as well. – Skin contact, among other non-sexual methods.

I was in San Francisco stunned when the state announced a public health emergency. Among the concerns I heard: How can I protect myself? How can I protect others? How can I stop stigma?

So far, monkeypox has killed very few people worldwide (only 6 as of early August), but it terrifies both at-risk and non-at-risk people. I’m here. The illness is not mild. Lesions are often excruciatingly painful, can be compared to shards of glass rubbing against the skin, may require lengthy hospital stays, and may take weeks to heal.

Frightened people don’t always behave well, so it’s time for a primer on monkeypox manners.

It may sound strange to quote Emily Post, but at the heart of etiquette is how we interact with others, and her inherent values ​​of consideration, respect and honesty. The principle applies not only to wedding ramblings, but also to health emergencies. Underpinning such arguments is the importance of being informed, reducing the chances of transmission, and caring for those who do become ill, rather than blaming them.

Keep up to date: It was only two weeks ago that I learned that my colleague had been vaccinated against monkeypox. As The Washington Post previously reported, I quickly came to understand it.Sexual activity is a major factor in the current surgeBut the CDC warns that it can also be spread through any kind of close contact, such as dancing shirtless, snuggling, or sharing sheets and towels. but usually for a long time (for example, if you live with someone who has monkeypox). Stay up to date with the latest guidance from reputable news sources.

What you need to know about monkeypox symptoms, treatment and prevention

Please tell us about your health: Some health experts advocate abstinence, at least for a while. But Hyman Scott, medical director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told me, “It doesn’t work… Telling people not to have sex is not effective.” Public health advocates such as Recommend reducing the number of intimate contacts and asking questions before sex.Everyone has a new lesion or rash. “One of the things we can do is be candid about our sex lives, reporting who we’ve had sex with, when we’ve had it, and how we’ve had it,” said one man on a dating app. told me after the first monkeypox vaccination. “It helps people make informed decisions.”

Practice Safer Sex: This is a lesson many of us learned in the early days of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, where almost every kind of intimacy from a handshake was fraught with the potential for transmission. Monkeypox is far less contagious than covid-19, but the CDC and other experts are calling for caution. Anyone who may be at risk should avoid kissing. Cover the rash or lesion with clothing (or bandages) and avoid touching it. If touched, it can spread to other people and other body parts. Then wash your hands, bedding, towels, sex toys, and everything else. Good hygiene protects everyone.

Create a “pod”. Remember the friend pods that many of us developed at the height of the pandemic? To stay sane, we interacted with the few people we knew and trusted.The same idea applies to your sexual partners if you are uncoupled or in a monogamous situation. Poz.com “Pod members should be monitored for symptoms for several days…then [their] Last potential exposure should be avoided before having sex within the pod, and sexual activity should be limited to people within the group. ” Again, trust and open communication are key.

Get vaccinated: I know, I know, another vaccine. The good news: Jynneos vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent monkeypox. Bad news: out of stock. Two doses, approximately four weeks apart, are required and the vaccine is believed to be at least 85% effective in preventing monkeypox. If infected, get vaccinated as soon as possible. CDC recommends vaccination within 4 days of exposure to prevent transmission. “Vaccination 4 to 14 days after the date of exposure may reduce disease symptoms, but may not prevent disease.” CDC Say. The lack of ginneos has led some experts to urge people to get ACAM2000, a less desirable vaccine approved for the smallpox-related virus but not for monkeypox. Recommended..

Isolate if infected (or start showing symptoms). A widower in his 50s from the West Coast asked me not to specify his name due to possible stigma, but self-isolated as soon as he felt it and had a “very ugly lesion” on his throat. , took a whole week. get a diagnosis. Meanwhile, he declined various invitations and began telling his friends that he might have monkeypox. “I didn’t want to be a spreader in my community.”

Disclose infections only on a need-to-know basis: “I chose carefully who I spoke to [because] I didn’t want everyone to know right away,” explained a man I know. “I was trying to avoid stigma and feeling ill.” Among the people he spoke to included a recent date, who had also been diagnosed with monkeypox.Life at New York University Arthur Caplan, a professor of ethics, acknowledged the fear when he said: The gay community has already embraced it, and the political climate in much of the country is openly hostile, fueled by another “gay” disease. “Nevertheless, Kaplan recommended informing health care providers, such as dentists and massage therapists, about possible infections, which could result in them making a decision not to treat you.” “We have a duty not to harm or unwittingly put others at risk,” he said in an email.

kind: provide assistance. Do not judge. Ask what you can do to help, keep conversations private, and don’t let fear succumb to fear, just like anyone who might know who has fallen ill. There is no “straight” virus. “Right now, the LGBTQ+ community is bearing the brunt of this outbreak, but given the way monkeypox spreads, anyone could be at risk of monkeypox,” Scott said. A virus is a virus.