WHO chief advises reducing sex partners to avoid monkeypox

The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday advised men at risk of catching monkeypox to consider reducing their sexual partners for the moment following the UN health agency declaring the escalating outbreaks in multiple countries to be a global emergencyWHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 98 per cent of the monkeypox cases detected since the outbreaks emerged in May have been among gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men He called for those at risk to take steps to protect themselvesThat means making safe choices for yourself and others for men who have sex with men Tedros said This includes for the moment reducing your number of sexual partnersInfectious individuals should isolate and avoid gatherings involving close physical contact while people should get contact details for any new sexual partners in case they need to follow up later the WHO chief saidAlso Read 21day isolation keeping lesions fully covered Centres guidelines for monkeypox patientsThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not suggested that men who have sex with men reduce their sexual partners only that they avoid skintoskin contact with people who have a rash that could be monkeypoxWHO officials emphasized that monkeypox can infect anyone in close contact with a patient or their contaminated clothing or bedsheets The UN health agency has warned that the disease could be more severe in vulnerable populations like children or pregnant womenTo date more than 19000 cases have been reported in more than 75 countries deaths have only been reported in AfricaWe know very clearly that one of the main modes of exposure for this particular illness is through direct contact close contact skin to skin contact possibly even face to face contact exposure to droplets or virus that may be in the mouth Dr Rosamund Lewis WHOs technical lead for monkeypox saidAndy Seale a WHO adviser on HIV hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections said experts have determined the current monkeypox outbreak is clearlytransmitted during sex but he said they have not yet concluded whether its a sexually transmitted infectionDr Hugh Adler who treats monkeypox patients in the UK said monkeypox was being transmitted during sex and that sexual networks and anonymous sex with untraceable partners were facilitating its spreadIts just as likely that monkeypox was always capable of transmitting and presenting like this but it hadnt been formally reported or so widespread before he saidLast week British authorities issued new guidance advising doctors that people with just one or two lesions might be infectious with monkeypox potentially complicating efforts to stop transmissionThe European Unions health commissioner urged the blocs 27 member nations Wednesday to step up their efforts to tackle outbreaks in the EU which she called the epicenter of detected casesIn a letter to European health ministers obtained by The Associated Press EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called for a reinforced concerted and coordinated actionThere is no time for complacency and we need to continue working together to control the outbreak she wroteThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever