With one of Europe’s largest gay pride celebrations right around the corner, Spain's LGBTQ community is worried that outbreaks of monkeypox on the continent could lead to an increase of homophobic sentiment based on misunderstandings of the disease.
In this photo provided by the Unidad de Microscopía Electrónica del ISCIII in Madrid, on Thursday May 26, 2022, an electronic microscope image shows the monkeypox virus seen by a team from the Arbovirus Laboratory and the Genomics and Bioinformatics Units of the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid. Health authorities in Europe, North America, Israel and Australia have identified more than 100 cases of monkeypox in recent days.
Most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, according to authorities in Britain, Spain, Germany and Portugal. A top adviser to the World Health Organization said the outbreak was likely triggered by sexual activity at two recent mass events in Europe. But beyond the Pride March, Blázquez is worried that society could make the same mistake it did at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, when the focus on the disease among gay men obscured its spread among the wider population.
Experts say anyone can be infected through close contact with a sick person, their clothing or bedsheets. Most people recover within two to four weeks without needing hospitalization. However, the WHO says in recent times 3-6% of cases were fatal. “Regarding the question of sexual transmission, I believe that we cannot yet define this strictly as a sexually transmitted disease," said Dr. Andrea Antinori, Director of Viral Immunodeficiencies at Spallanzani hospital in Rome. “So I would avoid identifying this disease as a sexually transmitted disease at the moment.”
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