Chicago It has recorded 31 infections in the past five weeks, with two-thirds of those infected in people who had completed vaccinations, raising vigilance. And the leather convention, which draws thousands to celebrate the sexual subculture over Memorial Day weekend, risks spreading further to travelers from around the world.
“It will be catastrophic if we do nothing,” said Antonio V. King, director of LGBTQ+ health and outreach at the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Public health officials are watching to see if Chicago represents an isolated incident or the start of a second summer wave. The coming weeks will either reveal the resilience of the vaccine-centric campaign to bring last year’s epidemic under control, or serve as a humble reminder that the virus is a formidable and unpredictable foe. deaf.
About a quarter of people considered at risk of contracting mpox are fully vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Although rates are much higher In major cities with the largest epidemics. Health officials fear that immunity is weak in some parts of the country and could trigger a resurgence if people let their guard down because they think mpox is gone.
“At this point, no one is resting on their laurels,” said Demetre Dascalakis, who leads the White House response to mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. “People are concerned that what we’re seeing in Chicago could happen elsewhere.”
Maintaining public attention to the health threat has been difficult, especially when gay Americans have had three straight summers turned upside down by COVID-19 and then mpox.the current The number of mpox cases nationwide is low, 81 infected person After April, there was a slight increase after a winter decrease. More cases may go undetected as attention to mpox fades and some infections appear as discreet bumps. It will take him six weeks for full vaccine protection to take effect, so health officials need to act before the surge.
Workers on the front lines to prevent another wave, howard brown health Young people in speedometers manned booths advertising vaccines at the entrance to the leather market at the Games. The casual sex app also sells mesh tank tops.
Employees of Howard Brown, who serve Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community, Participants who stopped by for free condoms and lubricants were asked if they had up-to-date information about the mpox vaccine (2 doses). To my surprise, almost everyone said yes. Due to so many questions about whether a booster shot should be given, the supervisor posted a laminated card stating that a third dose was not recommended.I couldn’t find an employee who walked around the hotel for 10 minutes to advertise a mobile vaccine clinic. One person has not been vaccinated.
or It gave hope to quell the new epidemic.
“Most people who belong to this kind of community have a preconceived notion that they are not very cautious when it comes to sex,” says Ivan Capifari-Cartagena, a bilingual outreach health educator at Howard Brown. said at the end of the day. When I talked to people who stopped by his booth. “A friendship that cares about each other, that in itself was very satisfying to me.”
For many gay men, the trauma of last summer’s mpox craze is seared into their memory.it caused confusion and the horror of the season, which is accepted as the time of gay pleasure. Men infected with mpox are forced to Weeks of isolation mean loss of income, exposure to stigma and ridicule. Some people put their sex lives on hold for fear of infection.
Experts credit the gay community for taking mpox seriously and played a key role in nearly eradicating the virus last year through behavior modification and vaccination.well, the tournament Attendees were wary of its resurgence.
A man walking through a leather market told a friend about the Chicago case and was worried that perhaps more cases would go undiscovered. another person talked about health The worker said he saw a tweet from a vaccinated porn star who had a mild case with subtle lesions on his hands, questioning the official tally. “For every roach, there are 100 more,” he says.
And many considered the risks of mpox before coming to a tournament. At competitions, people wear leather harnesses and masks, full-body latex and rubber suits, and feel free to have sex casually after hours without judgment.
Ajmal Miller, Chicago artist, The Leather Club for Men of Color posted on Facebook that the mpox is back, get vaccinated and be careful who you choose as your sex partner. He and other club members feared black men would bear the brunt of the epidemic again, as vaccines became more difficult to obtain in black-majority areas and stigma stifled discussion about the virus.
Miller, 36, described the impact of mpox on the South Side community as something out of a horror movie. People had marks on their faces, one couldn’t go to the bathroom without feeling excruciating pain, and his friend went missing for weeks without explanation. He received his first dose of the vaccine late last summer.As a black man he said He was mistrustful of medical institutions that had historically abused African Americans, so he was apprehensive about going back for a second dose when the wave of chickenpox receded.
But with Chicago’s recent rise in cases, he got a second shot and urged his friends to take the virus seriously.
“Let’s not let these things exhaust us like we’re just sitting ducks,” Miller said. A wellness discussion hosted by the Leather Club in a hotel suite. “Take care of yourself…and don’t be friends with offensive posts or offensive conversations at dinner or cocktail hour.”
but tournament Most of the participants have been vaccinated, but it is still possible to spread the infection.of Vaccines do not guarantee prevention.
A study last year estimated that two doses of the Jynneos vaccine are 66-86 percent effective in preventing mpox, whereas one dose is less effective. They didn’t answer the key question of how long the protection would last. Health officials are reviewing data from Los Angeles and Washington, DC to assess whether immunity is weakening and whether boosting is warranted.
some participants remain not vaccinated because they faced It was difficult to get shots last year.
While shopping at a leather market, Daniel Williams A 30-year-old adult performer said he feared contracting mpx. But last summer, he didn’t get vaccinated in his hometown of Washington, D.C., because he couldn’t go out much due to health issues and heard there would be long lines to get vaccinated.he We know that the number of infected people is rising again and that we may lose our jobs due to the infection.
Ultimately, he skipped the sex party, deciding to record a sex scene during the convention with people he trusted. he won’t get the virus.
“When you’re here and you see people having fun, it creates a fear that you might miss an opportunity and you just don’t pay attention to it,” Williams said.
Despite the landmark incident, Chicago’s recent Rising mpox also brings hope that the vaccine is working as intended. No significant increase has been reported in other communities. The Chicago case is mild with small lesions. Instead of growing exponentially, the number of new cases each week is flattening out, suggesting the virus is hitting a wall and won’t trigger an explosion of infections. there is
“It’s reassuring that we’re not seeing a spike in cases, which is common during outbreaks. This suggests some degree of immunity and defenses at the population level,” said the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert who studies mpox, said: “We don’t expect anything like what we saw last summer to happen.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention release model In May, cities with large gay populations such as Washington DC, New York City and San Francisco have sufficient immunity It greatly reduces the risk of recurrence due to vaccination or past infections. other metropolitan area face increased risk of resurgence because Decreased levels of immunity, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston.
After advertising free vaccines in a van parked outside the hotel and talking to hundreds of attendees, health workers vaccinated 37 people at the International Mr. Leather.. This shot doesn’t completely prevent weekend sexual contact.
many attendees In my hometown, I had a hard time hitting a shot.
Philip Rice last year didn’t think it was worth the three-hour drive from his home in rural Michigan to the nearest vaccination site.Because the number of infected people in his area is not so high and he We hope that the epidemic will eventually end. As he prepared for a trip to the annual leather convention, he searched, “Is the monkeypox over?” Search Google for news of rising cases in Chicago. He then Googled vaccination sites near the tournament and figured that even if he didn’t get a second shot when he got home, it would be better than not getting one.
“I hope everyone gets vaccinated and this kind of second wave that is currently a concern is much smaller,” Rice, 34, said after being vaccinated.
At the suggestion of her husband, Andy Tracy, 56, of Tulsa, went to get the vaccine after noticing the mpox signs around her hotel.
“There are no such signs in Oklahoma, and it’s very difficult to get the monkeypox vaccine,” Tracy said. The nurse said she did not have time to get vaccinated through public health agencies. “The red states don’t really care. It’s all a liberal conspiracy for them.”
As the second day of the convention drew to a close, Howard Brown employees felt optimistic about the coming months.
“Our community has a history of dealing with outbreaks,” said Javier Chapa, Howard Brown’s outreach coordinator. “Seeing everyone at the festival well-informed, determined and committed to vaccination gives us hope that we will continue to do so for each other.”
