The public is not prepared for the new MPOX threat

It's been two years since the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency due to an outbreak of MPOX, endemic in Africa and spreading to dozens of countries. Now in the summer of 2024, a more deadly form of the infection has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to other African countries, the strain that initially hit the United States is showing signs of a resurgence, and this week the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new warnings to health care workers about MPOX.

But while Americans quickly learned about the disease in the summer of 2022, much of that knowledge appears to have been lost as case numbers declined and media attention waned, according to new survey data from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

In a national survey of nearly 1,500 U.S. adults conducted in July 2024, the Policy Center found that knowledge about monkeypox, which had increased from July to August 2022, had decreased, and fear of the disease (formerly known as monkeypox) had also decreased. This Annenberg Science in Public Health (ASAPH) knowledge survey found that:

• Only 1 in 20 Americans (5%) are worried about contracting MPOX in the next 3 months, down from 21% in August 2022. Additionally, fewer than 1 in 10 Americans (9%) are worried about themselves or a family member contracting MPOX.

• Fewer than one in five (17%) know that mpox is less contagious than Covid-19, down from 41% in August 2022. Nearly two-thirds (63%) are unsure.

• Just one-third (34%) know that gay men are at higher risk of contracting MPOX, down from nearly two-thirds (63%) in August 2022.

• Fewer than half (45%) know that a vaccine for MPOX exists, down from 61% in August 2022.

• The number of people who know it is false that getting the COVID-19 vaccine increases the chance of getting epidemic keratosis gracilis dropped from 71% to 58%.

“The speed with which the public learned the information they needed about MPOX in the summer of 2022 is the result of effective communication by the public health community. That same expertise must now be utilized to ensure that at-risk people are aware of the symptoms of MPOX, how it is transmitted, and the preventative benefits of the vaccine.”

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Research Director and Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), University of Pennsylvania

Mpox epidemic in 2024 and 2022

Discovered in 1958, MPOX is a rare disease caused by the orthopoxvirus, which has a low fatality rate in the family of viruses that cause smallpox, according to the CDC. MPOX can cause fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, and a painful rash, especially on the hands, feet, face, chest, mouth, or near the genitals. According to the CDC, the disease can be spread through contact with infected wild animals, close contact with an infected person (including sexual contact), including contact with scabs or body fluids, or contact with contaminated materials such as towels or bedding.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the current outbreak is caused by the MPOX strain, known as clade I, which is particularly virulent and dangerous to infants and children under the age of five, and the WHO Director-General announced this week that he will convene a committee of experts to advise on whether the outbreak should be declared a global health emergency. (The WHO declared the MPOX global health emergency to end 2022 in May 2023.) According to STAT News, the WHO says there have been more than 14,000 cases this year, with at least 511 deaths. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 62% of the deaths were children under the age of five. The current variant appears to spread through everyday close contact between people, but the WHO confirmed in November 2023 that the strain is also transmitted sexually.

This deadly strain of monkeypox has never been reported outside Central and East Africa, according to the CDC.

Another MPOX strain, known as the Clade II subtype, which spread across the United States in 2022, is less deadly and is primarily transmitted sexually, with gay men at higher risk of contracting the disease. The earlier strain has never completely disappeared, but new cases are far fewer, according to the CDC. The majority of cases are in people who have not been vaccinated against MPOX or have only received one of the two recommended doses, the CDC reported.

Mpox vaccination

While knowledge about mpox has dropped significantly, there has been a less pronounced drop in willingness to be vaccinated against the disease.The CDC urges individuals to get two doses of the Jynneos vaccine, four weeks apart, both for those who have been exposed to the mpox virus and for those who have risk factors for mpox, such as men who have sex with men.

In a previous APPC survey conducted in October 2022, 76% of respondents said they would be “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to get the MPOX vaccine if exposed to MPOX. The current survey conducted in July 2024 showed a slight decrease, with 70% of respondents saying they would be “very likely”/”somewhat likely” to get the vaccine (68%) or have already received the MPOX vaccine (2%). However, three in ten (30%) said they would be “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to get the MPOX vaccine if exposed to the virus. Furthermore, in July 2024, 70% said they believed the benefits of MPOX vaccination outweighed the risks.

APPC ASAPH Survey

The survey data is from 20^Number The first wave of a nationally representative panel of 1,496 U.S. adults first selected in April 2021 was conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center by independent market research firm SSRS. The Annenberg Science in Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey was conducted July 11-18, 2024, with a margin of error (MOE) of ±3.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not sum to 100%. Due to rounding, combining subcategories may not add up to topline and text totals.

Through its Annenberg Science in Public Health (ASAPH) Knowledge Survey Panel, the Policy Center has been tracking the American public's knowledge, beliefs and behaviors regarding vaccinations, COVID-19, epidemic bronchitis, influenza, maternal health, climate change and other critical health issues for more than three years. In addition to Jamieson, the APPC team includes Senior Data Analyst Laura Gibson, Research Analyst Shawn Patterson Jr., Annenberg Institute for Health and Risk Communication Director Patrick E. Jamieson and Managing Director of Survey Research Ken Wineg.

Annenberg Public Policy Center Founded in 1993, it aims to educate the public and policymakers about the role of communication in improving public understanding of political, scientific and health issues at the local, state and federal levels.