Because it is not known how monkeypox will develop in the next few weeks and months, and whether it will spread among heterosexuals, monkeypox should be taken seriously, and quickly.
• Read more: “Get vaccinated” against monkeypox
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“No one knows. A patient of mine told me the other day that he thought the eruption was under control, so he didn’t take the shot. There were 4 or 5 patients in the walk-in this morning,” explains Dr. Régene Thomas, founding president of L’Actuel Medial Clinic, in an interview on LCN.
Dr. Thomas encourages and urges her patients to get vaccinated to protect themselves, especially as Gay Pride approaches.
“I show them the photos because what you see is not pretty. It’s very painful. There are people who come to see us and they have a button and it’s not there. There’s a concern in the gay community.
He laments that 13,000 men in the Montreal area were vaccinated against monkey fever.
“It’s not a lot! Tens of thousands of tourists will come [gais] In two weeks, the vaccine is effective after one week. It is estimated that there are between 70,000 and 100,000 homosexuals in Montreal.
This week, for the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated monkeypox as a sexually transmitted disease and urged bisexual and gay people to reduce the number of partners.
“I was very happy to hear what the WHO said because they have more political influence than I do. […] All we have done so far is count cases. Let’s learn from past epidemics and try to prevent them from the beginning.
“Are we going to eradicate this disease? Does it spread to the sex community, among women and children? This is the big question and the big concern”, concludes Dr. Thomas.
He wants to rapidly develop research to protect the population, especially antivirals and other vaccines.
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