Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Years Of Neglect Hinder Health Clinics On Front Lines Of Monkeypox Battle
KHN: Fighting Monkeypox, Sexual Health Clinics Are Underfunded And Ill-Equipped
Clinics that treat sexually transmitted diseases — already struggling to contain an explosive increase in infections such as syphilis and gonorrhea — now find themselves on the front lines in the nation’s fight to control the rapidly growing monkeypox outbreak. After decades of underfunding and 2½ years into a pandemic that severely disrupted care, clinic staffers and public health officials say the clinics are ill-equipped for yet another epidemic. (Szabo and Weber, 7/19)
Sexual health clinics on the frontline of the monkeypox response are already financially stretched, leaving the United States and UK ill-equipped to tackle the first major global health test since the COVID-19 pandemic. Infectious disease experts say sexual health clinics - which offer confidential walk-in diagnosis and treatment – are best placed to identify and treat cases of monkeypox, which is largely affecting men who have sex with men. (Steenhuysen and Rigby, 7/18)
Is the fight against monkeypox already lost?
It has been a mere nine weeks since the United Kingdom announced it had detected four cases of monkeypox, a virus endemic only in West and Central Africa. In that time, the number of cases has mushroomed to nearly 13,000 in over 60 countries throughout Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, new parts of Africa, South Asia, and Australia. (Branswell, 7/19)
On monkeypox in New York and D.C. —
D.C. has more cases of monkeypox per capita than any state, prompting public health officials to launch an aggressive vaccination campaign aimed at blanketing the most at-risk communities. As of Friday, health departments were reporting 122 positive cases in D.C., 44 in Virginia and 37 in Maryland, but D.C. public health officials say there are more people infected than the data show because not everyone with symptoms obtains a test. (Portnoy, 7/18)
Inside the department, officials are battling over public messaging as the number of monkeypox cases has nearly tripled in the last week, nearly all of them among men who have sex with men. A few epidemiologists say the city should be encouraging gay men to temporarily change their sexual behavior while the disease spreads, while other officials argue that approach would stigmatize gay men and would backfire. (Goldstein, 7/18)
While monkeypox can sometimes result in mild symptoms, it is turning out to be unexpectedly severe for a substantial number of patients infected in this outbreak, according to doctors, public health officials and patients in New York City, the epicenter of the nation’s cases. (Otterman, 7/18)
