Drug-Resistant Strains Of Mpox Threaten Homosexual Men Experiencing Unprotected Sex.

(VOR News) – A recent study found that gay and bisexual men who engage in Mpox unprotected anal intercourse as the receptive partner are five times more likely to get the mpox virus.

The study and the release of a second report on mpox cases in California and Illinois that are associated with a strain that is resistant to first-line treatment with tecovirimat coincide.

Since not all viruses from cases are genetically tested, “these findings likely underestimate the frequency of this newly recognized drug-resistant variant,” a team led by Crystal Gigante noted. Her job is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.

Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is a quickly spreading virus that is primarily disseminated by close skin-to-skin contact, especially during sexual encounters. Symptoms include fever, severe sores or rashes, and enlarged lymph nodes.

During the outbreak in 2022 and 2023, mpox spread to other countries.

Now that a new, potentially more deadly strain of the virus has emerged within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the WHO has declared a public health emergency of worldwide significance.

Both of the new studies on MPox were published in the CDC journal Morbidity and Death Weekly Report on October 10. A study sought to determine whether specific sexual activities raise the risk of viral transmission because gay and bisexual men have been identified as the primary carriers of MPX outside of Africa.

A group led by CDC researcher Anna Chard looked through documents pertaining to the sexual activities of almost 1,500 American men under 50 who said they had sex with other men. Of these, 457 had contracted MPox, whereas 1,030 had not yet shown symptoms of the illness.

Chard’s team, Mpox, addressed guys with “close contact” with an MPV patient.

After accounting for other factors, Chard’s team found that the primary risk factor for mpox infection in this group was condom-free, receptive anal sex, which increased a person’s risk five times higher than that of men who hadn’t engaged in this unprotected form of sex.

The CDC researchers emphasized that while condoms can significantly lower the risk of mpox transmission, they are not infallible.

According to Chard and colleagues, “condoms alone might not prevent all exposures to [the virus] because rash can occur on other parts of the body and transmission can occur through other routes, including saliva and respiratory secretions” .

However, vaccination with the Jynneos vaccine is one effective means of preventing illness. Only 1 in 4 of the almost 2 million Americans who were eligible for the immunization had received both doses, according to experts.

Even among inoculated gay and bisexual men, booster shots may still be required. Current study indicates that the thempox immunization loses effectiveness against the virus after a year.

Drug-resistant mpox spreads across the US.

So immunization may be even more necessary. Gigante and colleagues report that modifications to the thempox virus brought on by extended therapy may result in viral resistance to first-line drugs, such as tecoviramat.

These resistant viruses “have been reported since 2022,” according to the researchers, and new cases keep popping up.

The latest data shows that between October 2023 and mid-February 2024, a cluster of five comparable cases were reported in California, eight more in Illinois, two in Louisiana, two in Texas, and one in New York.

Even though Gigante’s team had to admit two patients to the hospital in order to treat their pain, all 17 of the drug-resistant mpox patients whose medical records were available “reported mild (or not severe) mpox disease.”

However, the new data “highlight the urgent need for additional therapeutics for treatment of mpox” and most likely understate the prevalence of this strain of the virus, according to the researchers.

SOURCE: MP

SEE ALSO:

Listeria-Related Meat Recall Affects Almost 10 Million Pounds.

Recently Identified COVID-Vaccine Targets Could Last Longer.

Report Causes Pfizer Stock to Climb Approximately $1 Billion Acquired by Starboard