An adviser for the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday, despite the increased circulation of monkeypox, people do not need to change their plans to attend pride parades next month.
Andy Seale, a strategies adviser in the WHO Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programs, said “it’s important that people who want to go out and celebrate gay pride, LGBTQ+ pride, to continue to go and plan to do so.”
WHO experts had hypothesized that sex at two recent raves in Europe contributed to the spread of the virus. According to the organization, several cases have been reported among men who engage in homosexual sex, but, since the cases were identified at sexual health clinics, the cases might have been a reflection of “positive health seeking behavior.”
“There is no specific transmission route that we need to be worried about,” Seale said. “It really is connected to the fact there have been a couple of events that have perhaps amplified the current outbreak.”
Seale added, “given this is not a gay disease, the transmission routes are common to everybody. The advice is pretty much the same for all people.”
In addition, while monkeypox was linked to indoor settings and pride parades happen outdoors, Seale said “we don’t see any real reason to be concerned about enhanced likelihood of transmission in those contexts, because the parties that we’ve been referring to have perhaps been more in enclosed spaces.”
WHO has reported 257 confirmed cases of monkeypox, with approximately 120 suspected cases from 23 countries where the virus is not endemic. In addition, the organization is not aware of any deaths from the increased spread.
Via Newsmax
