On Monday, the Los Angeles County Department of Health reported that cases of the disease, formerly known as Monkeypox, had more than doubled over the past four weeks, up to 52 compared to the 24 cases reported during the previous four-week period.
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As the Los Angeles Blade reported, the department noted that 70 percent of the new cases were among people who were unvaccinated. It encouraged at-risk communities to get the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, which is available at pharmacies and is offered for free at public health clinics across L.A. County, according to KTLA.
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The department noted that men who have sex with men or transgender people, trans people who have sex with men or trans people, sex workers, anyone who engages in intimate physical contact at large events, people with HIV, and the sexual partners of any of the above are particularly at-risk.
The virus that causes mpox spreads through close personal contact, including direct skin-to-skin contact and contact with objects, fabrics, and surfaces. The L.A. County Department of Health issued recommendations for slowing the spread of mpox, including individuals reducing their number of sexual partners and limiting their attendance at sex parties. It also advised against sharing items like sex toys, towels, clothing, bedding, and toothbrushes and recommended that bedding, sex toys, and other intimate items be washed after each use.
Mpox causes a painful rash, but symptoms can also include headache, fever, chills, body ache, fatigue, and swollen lymph glands, and in some cases, may lead to hospitalization. The L.A. County Department of Health recommended that at-risk individuals talk to their sexual partners about mpox symptoms and refrain from sexual activity if they or their partners show signs of the disease. It also recommended individuals exchange contact information with new partners so that they can follow up if they show mpox symptoms.
While the virus that causes mpox is considered endemic in central and west African countries, it began spreading in the U.S. and Europe in 2022, causing an outbreak that saw, at its peak between July and August 2022, around 3,000 new cases per week in the U.S. During that outbreak, at least 58 people in the U.S. died of the disease. Anyone can contract mpox, but the 2022 global outbreak was particularly prominent among men who have sex with men.
Case numbers in the U.S. have dropped dramatically since 2022 with the widespread availability of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, which is now widely available. But in May, the CDC reported that only 23 percent of people at risk of mpox infection in the U.S. had received both doses of the vaccine.
Messaging around the virus has all but disappeared in the U.S. since the Department of Health and Human Services officially declared an end to the national public health emergency over a year ago. Since then, small mpox outbreaks have occurred in New York, North Carolina, and Colorado. And a study released earlier this year found that closeted men who have sex with men were less likely to get vaccinated or treated for mpox due to a lack of information about the virus and the vaccine.
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