“The paranoia that I have caught with monkeypox I did not have with covid, not even remotely.
As soon as I heard the first news I deleted myself from Grindr and from the rest of the dating applications”, says Carles, a young man who this week has been vaccinated at the BCN Checkpoint, an NGO in the Catalan capital dedicated to the detection of HIV and other infections. of sexual transmission directed at the gay community.
In Spain, eight out of ten cases have been detected among men who have sex with men, a community with as many reactions to this outbreak as people form it.
From the beginning, when it was discovered that the first cases in Spain were transmitted in a gay sauna, the LGTBI community has been in the spotlight.
Some, including the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Bisexuals, Intersexuals and more (FELGTBI+), claim to feel singled out and stigmatized, especially since the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that men who have sex with men reduce the number of sexual partners as a measure to contain the outbreak.
Both the federation and the WHO insist that sexual orientation has nothing to do with the risk of transmission;
the fact that it advances among the gay community is due to the fact that the virus accidentally found a transmission route in it, but it can also reach any other person.
And he's already doing it.
EL PAÍS has spoken with more than twenty people from this group, including some activists.
Many agree that the WHO message was not adequate, but they also think that the community needs to be aware of what is happening.
“In the end, we are the ones who are being transmitted the most, it is good that the information reaches us,” says Antonio who, like most of those who have wanted to participate in this report, prefers not to identify himself with surnames.
He, Carles and many others consulted are already limiting the number of sexual partners to reduce risk.
Monkeypox is not what is known as a sexually transmitted disease: although it is still being studied whether it can be spread through sexual fluids, it is not its main route.
But it is spread by very close contact, often skin-to-skin, and sexual intercourse is a prime medium for its spread.
In fact, it is the one behind more than 80% of the cases for which this information is available in Spain, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
The latest figures, published on Friday, raised to 4,942 diagnoses and two deaths from monkeypox in Spain, which maintains it as the country that has reported the most cases per inhabitant.
In absolute terms, it is only behind the United States (7,102), which this Thursday declared the outbreak a national health emergency.
In addition to Catalonia, Madrid, the Basque Country and Andalusia have already started vaccinations for people in risk groups.
But the very limited number of doses makes it impossible to reach the entire group: 5,300 arrived in a first batch, to which 7,000 more are added this week, which are still insufficient.
They are intended for contacts of infected people and men who have sex with different male sexual partners, who need a lot of luck and patience to get it.
“There is no availability for an appointment, try again in the next few days”, is the most frequent message that appears on the website of the Community of Madrid, which, however, ensures that 20% of those who request it do not appear later.
The LGTBI collective calls for more vaccines urgently.
"It is the biggest concern of the people, that there are not enough," says Toni Poveda, LGTBI activist and director of Cesida.
“Everyone wants to get vaccinated.
We are very aware of health and what we say is that if vaccines do not arrive from the European Union [which has made a joint purchase of 110,000 doses for all member countries], we are going to mobilize so that they buy them by other means ”, he points out.
Dr. Ángel Rivero, medical officer at Checkpoint and one of those who receives the 200 men who go to the center daily, acknowledges that there is "a lot of alarm" with monkeypox, but "there is not a terrible panic among the group and yes a lot of misinformation”.
Checkpoint has received 660 doses of vaccines that are being given to HIV-infected and immunosuppressed users and to those who regularly use PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a drug that prevents the transmission of HIV even if unprotected sex is maintained.
660 doses are totally insufficient and if more do not arrive, they will run out on Tuesday.
In addition, Rivero warns, at the moment they are only giving the first dose, which is estimated to be around 30% effective.
"Until we can put the second dose, and we don't know when it will be,
José Vela, from the Collective of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals of Madrid, this Wednesday in a street in the capital.
Samuel Sanchez
The infections continue to add up and many consulted warn that summer is a very favorable time for sexual contact.
Between August 6 and 14, Barcelona celebrates the Circuit Festival, where thousands of gay men meet to party and where it is more than usual for them to "maintain multiple relationships", they say.
The highlight of the Circuit is a pool party on Isla Fantasia where between 10,000 and 15,000 men gather.
“The Circuit can be a perfect storm for the infection to continue to spread and we have to do a lot of pedagogy so that the collective is not further stigmatized.
What cannot be, and is happening to us more than is permissible, is that we are calling users and they tell us that they have no idea what monkeypox is,” laments Rivero.
In the middle of summer, José Vela, from the Collective of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals in Madrid, believes that the message of reducing the number of sexual partners is not realistic.
“You say that you are going to have fewer relationships when you coldly read what is happening, but when you are excited the fear goes away and things happen.
That also happens with HIV, which we are very afraid of, but you are not thinking about it 24 hours a day, you go out, drink wine and have impulses, like everyone else”, he points out.
04:55
Why discrimination can be a problem for monkeypox control
A group of people line up at the Bushwick Education Campus in Brooklyn, New York, to receive the smallpox vaccine on July 17, 2022.Photo: Kena Betancur (AFP) |
Video: EPV
tracking difficulties
One of the problems in curbing outbreaks is the difficulty of tracing.
The WHO also asked men who have sex with men to identify their partners.
But the stigma mentioned by LGTBI groups makes it more difficult.
Health sources assure that there have been cases in which a man, infected after maintaining a relationship with another man, has even threatened the doctor who was treating him to keep his identity, fearful that his wife could find out.
Although the law and the code of ethics guarantee the secrecy of the patient's identity, this fear reveals obstacles that other diseases free of these connotations do not present, such as covid, which embarrasses no one.
Jordi, one of the first to receive the vaccine, feels stigmatized.
“I have been afraid when it comes to having relationships.
They tell you before you approach another guy to check him for injuries, but you can't check every man you're with,” he dismisses.
After the vaccine he feels safe, despite the fact that the effectiveness is only 30% in this first dose.
Pablo, assumed name, will no longer receive the vaccine.
She had a sexual relationship with a boy 23 days ago.
“One night I started having chills and a fever.
I thought I even had hemorrhoids and looked at myself in a mirror.
Right away I saw the sores and panicked,” she recalls.
She went to Checkpoint and soon got out of doubt.
They did a PCR, took samples from the lesions and confirmed that she had monkeypox: "Three weeks of isolation and ibuprofen."
In a telephone conversation and while his isolation continues, Pablo describes how his day-to-day life has been since then: “Fortunately, I telecommute, but I wasn't willing to call to ask for three weeks' leave.
We are all afraid because this is stigmatizing.
It gives the feeling that we have caught the disease because of vices or because we have not taken measures, but monkeypox is not a sexual disease.
This is spread by rubbing.
Even so, now comes the Circuit, then the Matrix in Torremolinos…”.
He is not the only one of those interviewed who mentions this tourist town on the Costa del Sol, visited in summer by thousands of people and with a large presence of the gay community.
“There will be no one to stop this,” he laments.
“And the worst thing is that I'm embarrassed.
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