When AIDS was first recognized in the early 1980s, San Francisco quickly emerged as an epicenter. Forty years later, San Francisco is at the center of another health crisis affected gay/bisexual men – MPV. Although San Francisco accounts for less than 0.3% of the U.S. population, its 723 cases make up 3.6% of all people nationwide who have been diagnosed with MPV.
Newsletter
Communities in the lead in responding to MPV, often without additional resources
Atlanta Black Pride this past weekend was the first of the community events prioritized by CDC for enhanced MPV outreach. During Atlanta Black Pride, community-based organizations partnered with the local health department to bring MPV vaccination to the community in downtown, midtown and beyond.
The Latest News on MPV
MPV diagnoses have modestly declined. As of September 2, 19,962 people had been diagnosed with MPV in the U.S. Nationally, the number of people newly diagnosed with MPV appears to have slightly declined.
MPV in Puerto Rico
As of August 29, 107 people had been diagnosed with MPV in Puerto Rico, and cases appear to be trending sharply upwards. Damián Cabrera-Candelaria, a gay man living in San Juan, is NMAC’s treatment program manager. Damián became involved in LGBTQI+ advocacy while he was a university student. Like many other Puerto Ricans, Damián was shaken by a brutal murder of a gay man in 2009, and he has devoted…
Communities leading the fight against MPV
Building Healthy Online Communities has launched https://mpoxvaxmap.org/, providing information to people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico about where they can get the MPV vaccine. The project is also mobilizing volunteers to vet information in order to ensure the most accurate information is available to the communities most affected by MPV. The gay leather community is responding to MPV. Daniel Driffin, who is working with NMAC to influence federal policy…
The Latest News on MPV
As of August 29, 18,101 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with MPV. With the first confirmed case in Wyoming, MPV has now been diagnosed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. CDC reports that gay/bisexual men between ages 21 and 45 have the highest risk of getting MPV, with the largest number of cases among men ages 31-35. There is some good news nationally,...