Comment After three months of rising cases of monkeypox, the global epidemic may have peaked, amid evidence that gay men are cutting back on risky sex and more people are being vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that has overwhelmingly affected men who have sex with men New cases of smallpox in the U.S. fell by about 25 percent in the past two weeks, from 444 cases a day on Aug. 10 to 337 on Aug. 24, according to the Washington Post’s seven-day rolling average. Nearly 17,000 Americans have been diagnosed with monkeypox since the virus emerged in mid-May. Globally, new cases fell 21 percent from last week, the World Health Organization said Thursday. Even as public health experts cheered the slowdown in new infections, they warned that the virus remains a risk — especially in smaller communities outside U.S. urban centers and in developing countries amid vaccine shortages, limited surveillance and insufficient testing — and will could spread more and more. the gay and bisexual community. Epidemiologists and health officials also report continuing challenges with the White House’s new vaccine strategy to expand the number of doses available. Inside America’s monkeypox crisis — and the mistakes that made it worse “There are signs that the epidemic is slowing in Europe, where a combination of effective public health measures, behavior change and vaccination are helping to prevent transmission,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. But he warned that new cases continue to rise in places like Latin America, where there is less awareness of the virus and limited access to vaccines. Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied the monkeypox outbreak, said a decline in cases is expected after increased awareness and a push for vaccinations. “Whether that’s going to be sustained or not, we just don’t know,” he said. “It’s too early to declare any kind of victory.” Biden administration officials on Friday hailed a “downward trend” in monkeypox cases in major US cities as a positive sign, but sidestepped questions about whether the national outbreak had peaked. “I want to be cautiously optimistic,” said Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledging that more work is needed to contain the virus. “Week after week, our numbers continue to grow, [but] the rate of increase is lower … and things are not even across the country.” For example, new virus cases in some areas are outpacing urban centers. Monkeypox cases in Georgia rose 66 percent between Aug. 10 and 24, a two-week period in which cases rose just 41 percent in New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, according to data from the state and local Ministry of Health. What you need to know about the monkeypox vaccine New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said his team hopes the virus is subsiding after nearly 2,900 New Yorkers have been infected in the past three months. About 40 new cases a day were diagnosed in New York City last week, compared to more than 70 a day earlier this month. “In the last few days, we’ve seen the cases start to drop and the transmission slow,” Vasan testified before the New York City Council on Wednesday, crediting the increase in vaccinations and changing sexual attitudes. “All of these are clearly prevailing and having a positive effect on slowing this epidemic.” Officials in cities like San Francisco and Chicago echoed similar messages this week. The CDC reported this week that gay men have modified risky sexual behaviors because of the epidemic, citing an online survey that found that about half of men who have sex with men said they have cut back on one-time sex encounters as well as reduced sex with partners met on apps dating or sex sites. Experts say the U.S. outbreak was likely fueled by a flurry of dance parties and casual sex during June’s Pride Month activities, and the CDC previously found that 94 percent of cases were related to sexual or intimate contact. “Behavior change, along with vaccination, can help slow the spread and end the monkeypox epidemic,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in a statement. He noted that the US data contains information from many jurisdictions, “some of which continue to have accelerated caseloads, and continued vigilance and action remain important.” The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency on July 23. Here’s what you need to know about how it’s transmitted. (Video: Joy Yi, Fenit Nirappil/The Washington Post, Photo: CDC/The Washington Post) Walensky and other officials said Friday they plan to step up vaccinations and messaging in LGTBQ communities at upcoming gatherings that could spur new clusters of infections, such as New Orleans’ Southern Decadence festival expected to draw tens of thousands of people over its weekend Work. They also said they are watching closely as students return to campuses, another potential driver of new cases. State and local health officials are pushing for the Biden administration to provide more support for the response, saying they need additional funding for public awareness Regarding the coronavirus, hire extra staff for testing and contact tracing and make further investment to bolster health departments worn down by two years of fighting the coronavirus. Fight to protect gay, bisexual men from monkey pox reveals inequalities “We appreciate the efforts of federal agencies to provide maximum flexibility to use supplemental COVID-19 funding to address this public health emergency,” Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territories, wrote to the White House Health Officers. with the Washington Post. “However, given the scope and scale of the epidemic … it is clear that this short-term solution is not sustainable in the long term.” Fraser told The Post that an additional $500 million to $1 billion will be needed to fund state and local monkeypox responses over the next 12 months. He suggested the Biden administration create an emergency funding package with Congress or make more funding available through the CDC’s Infectious Disease Emergency Response Reserve Fund. Experts also continue to raise concerns about the Biden administration’s vaccine strategy of stretching the limited supply by dividing each single-use vial into five doses via a different injection method. The plan, which was quickly finalized on August 9, was hailed by some local officials as an innovative way to meet growing demand. But many state and local officials face logistical problems in implementing it. “I have now heard many reports from my state and local colleagues that it is very difficult to extract five doses from a single vial of vaccine,” Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers wrote in an article. posted on its Substack page last week, criticizing the abrupt change in strategy. “In total, state and local health authorities now have up to one-third fewer doses for use in their communities than they were before the transition to intradermal administration.’ The chairman of the Senate health committee also urged the Department of Health and Human Services to close “alarming” supply gaps in vaccines to treat monkeypox as well as future outbreaks. “The administration must do more to address existing, unacceptable vaccine supply shortfalls, establish comprehensive distribution and communication strategies, and develop long-term procurement plans,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote in a letter Tuesday to Dawn O. ‘Connell, the HHS assistant secretary who oversees the vaccine stockpile. US monkeypox response mirrors early coronavirus mistakes, experts say The White House on Friday defended its vaccination strategy, saying about 75 percent of jurisdictions across the country have already adopted the new approach and another 20 percent plan to. Splitting each vial into five doses will allow the United States to “provide more than 3 million doses of vaccine … nearly enough vaccine to reach the entire population at risk,” O’Connell said Friday. CDC officials had previously estimated that at least 3.2 million doses of the vaccine would be needed to cover gay and bisexual men who officials consider to be at the highest risk. But Biden officials have said they are open to adjusting their vaccination strategy as they gather more real-world data on the effectiveness of splitting doses. “We’re really trying to shift the thinking from ‘how many vaccines can you get out of the vial’ to ‘how many guns can you vaccinate,’ because that will give us a lot more information,” Dimitris Daskalakis said. deputy White House coordinator for the monkeypox response. President Biden on May 23 said he believed the United States had enough smallpox vaccines to deal with “the possibility of the problem.” (Video: C-SPAN/MSNBC/ABC) Administration officials also said that despite weeks of complaints about limited vaccine availability, many local officials have yet to fully use up their vaccine. As of Wednesday, only 11 of 67 jurisdictions nationwide have certified that they are using at least 85 percent of their vaccine supplies, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss current policies and internal conversations. After cases spiked in June and July, the Biden administration retooled its monkeypox strategy and appointed a new White House task force to coordinate the federal response. In interviews, Biden officials emphasized the aftermath work to prevent potential outbreaks, such as a recent incident in which a daycare worker in Illinois tested positive for monkeypox, potentially exposing about 60 people,…
