Urgent action is needed to prevent monkeypox from becoming endemic in the UK, experts have warned.
Monkeypox is a rare infection that’s mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west or central Africa. The risk of catching it in the UK tends to be low, however, as of Monday, June 11, the total number of cases reported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has risen to 1,735. Out of the confirmed cases, 1,660 are in England. Modelling of the current outbreak warns cases are doubling every 15 days.
Gay men, bisexual men or men who have sex with other men, in particular, have been urged to pay extra attention to the symptoms of the virus as the UKHSA claims “the majority of the cases” identified to date have been among this group. With this in mind, organisations including the British Association of Sexual Health & HIV (BASHH), Terrence Higgins Trust, and National AIDS Trust, are asking for the targeted vaccine programme for gay and bisexual men to be looked at sooner rather than later.
