Two new cases of a more-infectious strain of mpox have been detected in the UK, health officials have said.
The new cases come after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced at the end of last month that a single case of Clade 1b mpox had been detected in the country.
The Clade 1b strain is associated with a more severe disease and higher mortality rates than Clade 2.
Two new cases of mpox have been identified in the UK. (Hakan Nural/Getty)
Both new UK patients were household contacts of the original patient and are receiving specialist care at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, in London.
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Professor Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said: “The overall risk to the UK population remains low. We are working with partners to make sure all contacts of the cases are identified and contacted, to reduce the risk of further spread.”
When the first UK case of the Clade Ib strain was announced, health secretary Wes Streeting praised the doctors and nurses treating the patient and said the government was “working alongside UKHSA and the NHS to protect the public and prevent transmission”, adding: “This includes securing vaccines and equipping healthcare professionals with the guidance and tools they need to respond to cases safely.
“We are also working with our international partners to support affected countries, to prevent further outbreaks.”
Mpox is a viral infection transmitted through close contact such as sex, touch, talking, or breathing close to another person, and is part of the smallpox family of viruses. Sufferers will often get a rash, along with other symptoms such as high temperature, swollen glands and chills.
The rash can go through several stages, beginning as raised spots that turn into small blisters filled with fluid that will eventually form scabs and fall off.
Intersex young people struggle with their mental health at higher rates than their peers, and how they’re treated by their families and doctors seems to play a part.
Over half of intersex LGBTQ+ youth (55 percent) reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, according to a new report from the Trevor Project, compared to 39 percent of endosex LGBTQ+ youth — those who do not have an intersex condition.
There are several factors that could be contributing to this disparity, says lead author Jonah DeChants, including a “combination of stigma and misplaced shame and embarrassment among individuals and researchers as well.”
“Historically, intersex identities have been unfortunately very much stigmatized,” DeChants tells The Advocate. “Some of that stigmatization came from poorly informed but well-intentioned families and medical providers who felt like in order for their child to have a ‘normal life,’ it was better for them to not know or to not talk about their intersex identity with other people, just like other LGBTQ identities.”
This stigma has “really contributed to a lack of funding for research, a lack of thinking to ask people about their intersex status or having sex differences,” according to DeChants, which is something his team wanted to begin rectifying. Their report surveyed 18,663 LGBTQ+ young people, some as young as 13, finding 256 who identified as both intersex and LGBTQ+ (1.4 percent). Though small in number, the disparities the group reported were vast.
Among intersex youth, 13 percent reported being subjected to some form of conversion therapy, in comparison to only 5 percent of their LGBTQ+ endosex peers. “That’s a really big disparity,” DeChants says, and it’s especially concerning when 43 percent of intersex youth who were subjected to conversion therapy reported a suicide attempt in the past year, compared to only 22 percent who hadn’t experienced conversion therapy.
“We can’t establish a causal relationship in the survey. It’s really a snapshot. We can’t tell which came first, the chicken or the egg, but the fact that there are more chickens and more eggs is still an important relationship to document,” he explains. “The fact that those rates are double really shows that there’s a harmful association between experiencing these things specifically among intersex young people.”
DeChants also noted the “similarities between coercive medical procedures and conversion therapy,” as 17 percent of intersex youth reported experiencing asurgical procedure that altered their anatomy or their reproductive organs to “fit normative expectations based on the gender binary.” Two-thirds of those respondents said that they had not consented to those surgeries, and the median age for such procedures was less than 1 year old.
“We really wanted to highlight the fact that most of those folks did not consent and were not able to consent to those procedures,” DeChants said. “The nonconsensual administration of that health care very early in life is showing a detrimental impact on folks later in life.”
It’s important to keep “educating parents and doctors about the potential harm of these nonconsensual early in life procedures and trying to change the medical protocol and the medical culture around sex differences and intersex identities,” DeChant says, pointing to the work of groups such as interACT that advocate for changes in law and policy.
For those in the lives of intersex youth, he emphasizes that “it would be better to leave that person’s body alone until they have the ability to determine what their gender identity is or decide what medical interventions feel good for them.”
“You do not have to have a body that fits into the gender binary in order to have a ‘normal life’ or to be a happy and healthy adult,” DeChant says.
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
Anti-trans legislation sweeping the country is proving deadly.
A recent study determined that such laws increased suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth by as much as 72%. And that’s just one instance of how LGBTQ+ mental health is on the ballot this election.
Studies overwhelmingly show that queer people are disproportionately likely to experience depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation or to engage in self-harming behaviors, particularly LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Trevor Project, 41% of queer youth considered taking their own lives within the past year, and an estimated 60% say they were not able to access treatment to care for their psychological and emotional well-being when they needed it. These grave disparities became a topic of national conversation earlier this year after Nex Benedict, a nonbinary Indigenous teen, died one day after being attacked in an Oklahoma high school bathroom. Police say that Benedict took their own life, but family members are pursuing an independent investigation.
The mental health of LGBTQ+ youth and adults is likely to be profoundly affected by the outcome of the 2024 presidential race: If elected to the White House in November, former President Donald Trump has pledged to take federal actionpreventing trans youth from accessing gender-affirming care. His running mate, JD Vance, has called to incarcerate doctors who offer gender-affirming care to young people.
With the election just weeks away, existing data shows that LGBTQ+ Americans, and especially young people, are acutely aware of the potential fallout of a Trump reelection. The vast majority of trans and nonbinary youth (86%) told the Trevor Project that “recent debates around anti-trans bills have negatively impacted their mental health,” per 2023 data from the national youth suicide organization.
LGBTQ+ Americans, and especially young people, are acutely aware of the potential fallout of a Trump reelection.
Hope Giselle, executive director of the National Trans Visibility March, says that she is personally “terrified” about what may be coming next, like many members of the LGBTQ+ community. She wants to believe that voters are “going to do the right thing” but referenced the landmark work of trans pioneers like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who were discarded by the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement in the 1970s and 80s as activists pursued a path of assimilationism.
“I want to believe that I should have good faith in folks, but I have seen the way that’s played out for me in the past,” she told LGBTQ Nation. “I’ve seen the way that’s played out for folks that I love. My sisters were at the forefront of this movement and set things up for communities that turned around and booed them at their own rally. Those things can repeat themselves.”
As the LGBTQ+ community nervously braces for an uncertain future, elected leaders are stressing the importance of prioritizing queer mental health as a political issue and raising increased visibility regarding the struggles that some community members are facing. At the federal level, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives is pushing the PEER Mental Health Act, which would create grant programs to assist schools in addressing the mental health needs of students. The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), also introduced the MEND Act, which would provide mental health assistance to local communities following natural disasters, such as those in the Appalachian mountains and Gulf Coast amid the ongoing destruction from Hurricane Helene.
Although the bills don’t specifically name the LGBTQ+ community as an area of focus, Balint says that queer people “get hardest hit” in times of crisis because so many are already living on the margins. LGBTQ+ people are more than twice as likely as the general population to experience homelessness in their lifetimes and also face higher rates of poverty and unemployment.
Even in a progressive state like Vermont, which she has represented in Congress since 2022, Balint often hears from LGBTQ+ youth in rural areas who are struggling without affirming resources. “It might be easier to be queer or trans in New York or San Francisco,” Balint said that young queer people often tell her, “but in my little town, even in Vermont, I don’t feel supported.”
“It’s so important to me because I was one of those young queer people who knew at a young age that I was gay and felt completely and totally out of sorts,” Balint told LGBTQ Nation. “I have struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life. I want to do everything that I can as an elected official, not just to pass a policy that will help young queer and trans people across the country but also to be a role model by talking about [mental health].”
Mental health and the fight for equality
“To state what your needs are and go after them, that’s a strength,” says Minnesota state representative Brion Curran. Photo: Marcus Dorsey/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images.
While addressing the myriad and multifaceted mental health challenges queer people face will take nationwide engagement, LGBTQ+ officials say the cost of not addressing the community’s needs is too high. Minnesota state representative Brion Curran (D) knows this first-hand: They began to experience severe PTSD while training as a deputy police officer and ultimately left their profession because they were afraid of “becoming a statistic.” Now that they are in a better place, Curran is vocal about their struggles to help dispel the silence and shame that remains pervasive around the subject. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, around 60% of adults who experience mental health issues do not seek treatment, largely due to stigma.
“I’m really open and vocal about people just seeking resources or asking for that support,” Curran told LGBTQ Nation. “That’s not a weakness. To state what your needs are and go after them, that’s a strength. I’m fortunate that I was able to access the resources I need, and I also know that not everybody has those resources.”
Pro-LGBTQ+ legislation, at its core, is mental health legislation.
As an elected official, Curran has sponsored efforts to train therapists to provide appropriate care to first responders and says that the state is working on decreasing burdensome regulations that may prevent people from getting the treatment they need. But they have also been heartened to see the state embrace its role as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people by passing a law in 2023 declaring Minnesota a refuge for trans youth health care. Curran says that pro-LGBTQ+ legislation, at its core, is mental health legislation because it “encourages positive mental health outcomes for people” who may not have that support from their home states.
Although anecdotal reports from the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, an organization fighting for increased queer political representation, warned that the mental health of LGBTQ+ electeds could be negatively impacted from constantly fighting on the front lines of equality, Curran maintains that “it’s important to talk about the struggles of specific communities.”
“It’s important to have people with lived experience at the table where decisions are made,” Curran said. “It’s easy for some issues to get overlooked when there’s not a person in the room directly dealing with that issue. In politics, oftentimes, some of these healthcare issues don’t seem really flashy. They might get lost in the mix, and so it’s important that we have people like me with these life experiences in the room so that we can say, ‘Hey, we can’t forget about this.’ ”
LGBTQ+ people are at a noticeably higher risk of “adverse brain health outcomes” in comparison to their straight and cisgender peers — and discrimination could be having an impact.
LGBTQ+ adults are at a 15 percent higher risk of composite brain health outcomes, including dementia, strokes, and late-life depression, according to a new study published in Neurology. Transgender women in particular were found to have higher odds of having strokes.
The study examined data from 393,041 participants with available information on sexual orientation and gender identity, of whom 39,632 (10 percent) identified as some form of LGBTQ+, with 38,528 (97 percent) belonging to a sexual minority and 4,431 (11 percent) to a gender minority.
The report found that LGBTQ+ “persons had higher odds of adverse brain health outcomes,” and that “these results persisted across sexual and gender minorities separately.” It concluded that “further research should explore structural causes of inequity to advance inclusive and diverse neurologic care.”
“It is concerning to see the differences in brain health between sexual gender minority (SGM) individuals and cisgender straight people,” lead author of the study, Shufan Huo, told CNN. “At the same time, I am glad that we can raise awareness for this often overlooked group. Medicine has traditionally focused on white, male patients, but nowadays we realize that this approach does not sufficiently address the needs of our diverse population.”
Huo stressed that the findings do not indicate that simply being LGBTQ+ causes these outcomes. Instead, the trend is made possible by several factors, including discrimination, which can cause stress, depression, and anxiety. Social stigma can also lead to disparities in health care for LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly as they face restrictions on their care from state governments.
Previous reports have demonstrated how discrimination negatively impacts well-being among LGBTQ+ people, as leading cancer research organization the American Cancer Society found in its 2024 Cancer Facts and Figures report that queer people frequently experience “minority stress” in health care settings, leading to an “elevated prevalence” of cancer risk factors.
Team sports are generally regarded to have positive benefits for kids, from gaining a new skill to socialization. However, there are some negatives associated with sports teams, particularly boys’ sports teams, when a culture of toxic masculinity and anti-LGBTQ+ language is present.
A study by Fordham University has shown that when youth are exposed to anti-LGBTQ+ language, it greatly harms them, unsurprisingly. However, the data also showed that it was not young queer children who are the most impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ language in athletic environments. It was young, straight white boys.
Locker room talk with homophobic undertones, phrases like “man up” or “don’t be a sissy,” pressure boys not to act feminine, with deeply harmful results, even if the phrases are used jokingly. Researchers write that language like that is often used in boys’ sports environments, allegedly to motivate. But it often simply ends up “policing,” as the researchers write, the right and wrong way to be a man.
Using language and phrases like that “harms the well-being of everyone,” said Laura Wernick, one of the study’s lead authors and an associate professor of social service at Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service.
Youth exposed to higher levels of such language did not benefit as much from the positives that youth sports offer compared to their peers who were not exposed to hurtful language. Self-esteem was one of the primary benefits lost when sports environments were inundated with harmful language.
Wernick said that the decrease in self-esteem was significantly greater among straight white cisgender boys than any other subgroup, calling it “the irony of policing masculinity.”
It’s not that LGBTQ+ youth are unaffected by this type of language in youth sports environments. However, researchers suggest that the impact on them and other marginalized groups may be less severe, as their past experiences have often helped them develop coping strategies.
The study was published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. Data was collected in 2014 as part of a project started by high school students in Michigan who were a part of Neutral Zone, an organization in Ann Arbor. The LGBTQ+ students who started the project bonded over shared experiences being bullied and were mentored by Wernick, a doctoral student at the time.
About the experience, Wernick said, “This was before a lot of media were starting to pay attention to the experiences of queer and trans youth.Their experiences weren’t being heard or believed.”
The study surveyed students in five urban, rural, and suburban schools about their experiences of harmful language in different environments, such as youth sports.
“I don’t think coaches think about the actual impact it has on boys,” Derek Tice-Brown, an assistant professor of social service at Fordham and the study’s co-lead author, said. “They grew up playing sports the exact same way, and that’s how they were taught to compete, to live up to a certain idea of what manhood is.”
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) has ordered local school districts to submit their sex education plans to the state for approval. The FLDOE has also said the classes must promote abstinence and cannot include discussion of contraception or pictures of reproductive health organs.
The sex-ed takeover removes local discretion when it comes to district sex education classes and materials.
For some time, Florida law has mandated that sex-ed lessons emphasize the “benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy” for grades 6 through 12.
But now the state has removed any local control of additional information school districts can provide their students.
A memo written by Broward County administrators obtained by The Orlando Sentinel summarized the district’s verbal interactions with state officials regarding their takeover of sex ed in the state. The state provided no written instructions provided for districts.
“Pictures of external sexual/reproductive anatomy should not be included in any grade level,” the memo recorded state officials as saying. “Contraceptives are not part of any health or science standard” but could be mentioned as a “health resource,” though “pictures, activities, or demonstrations that illustrate their use should not be included in instruction in any grade level,” it said.
“Different types of sex (i.e., anal, oral, and vaginal) cannot be part of instruction in any grade level,” state officials added, according to the Broward memo.
Orange County schools previously started their lessons in 5th grade with one class devoted to the physical changes of puberty. High schoolers had discussions about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.
Now the state must approve any additional curriculum and they’ll either deny the additions or ignore them, forcing local districts to cancel sex-ed classes altogether until the state addresses their plans.
Elissa Barr, a professor of public health at the University of North Florida and a member of the sex ed advocacy group Florida Healthy Youth Alliance, has been keeping in touch with local school officials and compiling a list of words and phrases they’ve been told to remove from their reproductive health plans.
These words include abuse, consent, domestic violence, fluids, gender identity and LGBTQ information, she said.
Removing the word “fluids” from lessons will make it hard to teach about how HIV is transmitted, for instance, since it spreads through blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal “fluids”.
“That’s science,” Barr said.
The verbal feedback that Orange school district officials got was plain: Throw out your plan and just use the state textbook.
“The FDOE strongly recommended the district utilize the state adopted text,” the district said in an emailed statement to the Sentinel.
The state textbook preaches abstinence as the only effective way to prevent STDs and pregnancy, and there’s no mention of contraception. The text also encourages students to go on group outings rather than spend time alone with a date.
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Teams of prominent scientists and ethicists have called for the end of medically unnecessary nonconsensual surgeries on intersex children in two new papers.
On the heels of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s first-ever resolution affirming the rights of intersex people, the papers signal growing international resolve to address rights violations experienced by people born with variations in their sex characteristics, sometimes called intersex traits.
Since the 1950s, surgeons have conducted irreversible and medically unnecessary “normalizing” operations on intersex children, such as procedures to reduce the size of the clitoris, which can result in scarring, sterilization, and psychological trauma. Intersex advocacy groups, as well as various medical and human rights organizations, have spoken out against these surgeries for decades. Despite a growingconsensus that these surgeries should end, as well as global progress on banningthem, some parents still face pressure from surgeons to choose these operations for children too young to participate in the decision.
The authors of one of the expert papers found that surgeons’ subjective cosmetic preferences for the appearance of genitals was one of the most commonly reported justifications in the paper’s sampling of elective “normalizing” surgeries on children younger than 10. Cosmetic appearance of genitals has no validated measure, so the data featured surgeons’ subjective descriptions instead. The authors, including five World Health Organization staff members, concluded that, “Legislating and medical regulatory bodies should advocate for ending the conduct of irreversible, elective, ‘sex-normalizing’ interventions conducted without the full, free and informed consent of the person concerned.”
The second paper, co-signed by dozens of professionals around the world, including physicians, ethicists, and psychologists, examined the ethical implications of “normalizing” interventions on children’s genitals. The authors conclude that clinicians “should not be permitted to perform any nonvoluntary genital cutting or surgery on any child, regardless of the child’s sex traits or socially assigned gender, unless doing so is urgently necessary to protect the child’s physical health.”
Both papers advocate that children born perfectly healthy – just a little different – should be free to grow up and make decisions about their own bodies.
The Trevor Project and the Helmsley Charitable Trust announced on Tuesday the trust awarded Trevor $5 million to support a campaign in support of LGBTQ+ youth in the rural Midwest. It comes after the Trevor Project found young queer youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide in rural areas than their peers.
Across the country, every 45 seconds, it’s estimated that at least one LGBTQ+ youth attempts suicide, according to the group. The Trevor Project found that 55 percent of LGBTQ+ youth in Montana considered suicide, compared to 45 percent nationwide. In South Dakota, 19 percent of young people surveyed attempted suicide, compared to 14 percent across the country. The organization also found that access to mental health support is lacking among LGBTQ+ youth. In Nevada, 72 percent of LGBTQ+ youth surveyed wanted mental health care in the past year and were not able to get it, Trevor noted.
“Right now, it is as critical as ever to take action to address the public health crisis of suicide among LGBTQ+ young people – especially in rural areas, where suicide risk often remains high while awareness and understanding of the issue may be limited,” Kevin Wong, senior vice president of marketing, communications, and content at The Trevor Project, said in an email to The Advocate. “The urgency is clear, as our most recent research shows that 39% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year — including 46% of transgender and nonbinary young people.”
The campaign will specifically target nine states within the trust’s Rural Healthcare Program: Hawai’i, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Funds will also go toward The Trevor Project’s public training team to support 50 training sessions for youth organizations across these states. According to the Trevor Project, this training will be held in areas where there is a higher rate of suicide among youth.
Real stories of LGBTQ+ youth will anchor the campaign, according to the organizations.
“We are immensely grateful to The Helmsley Charitable Trust for helping us maximize The Trevor Project’s reach across audiences in these nine states. It’s an invaluable opportunity for us to leverage a mass reach medium like digital and static billboards, combined with broadcast advertising’s opportunity to connect with linear TV audiences, alongside the unparalleled targeting capabilities of digital platforms such as display ads, programmatic ad buys, as well as paid search and paid social,” Wong said. “The Trevor Project’s messages of hope, affirmation, and support will be carried to youth and adult audiences across different identities and geographies.”
For its part, The Helmsley Charitable Trust’s contribution follows its history of supporting rural health care programs.
“Helmsley is the largest private funder of rural health initiatives in the country. We seek to bring equality and access to care to all people living in rural America – and we care deeply about communities that have historically been overlooked and underresourced. Our work with The Trevor Project fits squarely into our priorities, as this PSA campaign will address the critical issue of mental health awareness and suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth in rural areas – a group of young people that is impacted by suicide risk at significantly higher rates than their peers of other demographics,” said Walter Panzirer in an email. “We are thrilled to partner with The Trevor Project because they have a long history of trust within the LGBTQ community. Trevor has always been a staunch advocate for enhancing mental health among the young people they serve, and they bring more than 26 years of demonstrated suicide prevention and crisis intervention success across the country.”
Panzirer noted that the trust has supported other LGBTQ+ groups before including The Golden Rainbow out of Las Vegas and is working with another at the moment — that partnership has not yet been announced.
“Protecting the lives of young people should not be viewed as political or controversial; it should be something that we all support,” Panzirer said in the official announcement.
The Trevor Project said the campaign will start next year.
“We are thrilled to partner with The Helmsley Charitable Trust on this critical endeavor to support the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people across the Midwest at a time when they may need it most,” Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project said in the announcement. “The Trevor Project’s research has consistently shown that LGBTQ+ young people are at higher risk for suicide compared to their peers, and we have a lot of work to do to connect them with the support they need. This work is especially crucial as we consider the unique barriers that exist for young people in many communities across our nine target states. Together, we look forward to decreasing stigma, educating youth-serving adults, and making it possible for LGBTQ+ young people to lead the happy, fulfilling lives they deserve.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
Mpox, the highly infectious disease previously known as monkeypox, has been detected at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, a prison in Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) has stated that there has been at least one case of Mpox located at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.
“We’re actively managing the situation with robust health measures,” IDOC Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius said in a statement to the Des Moines Register, initially reported by KCCI-TV.
“Affected individuals are receiving care, and enhanced sanitation and isolation protocols are in place to prevent further spread.”
It remains unconfirmed how many of the 1,251 inmates have caught the highly contagious disease but the Fort Dodge facility has emphasised that stringent measures are in place to avoid further spread.
Local news outlets are reporting that strict isolation and sanitation measures are being enforced to contain the outbreak.
This is the first case detected in Iowa this year. In 2023, only one case was recorded.
The virus was first declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2022, after cases increased in Europe and the Americas.
Mpox is broken down into two strains: clade 1 and clade 2. The strain identified at Fort Dodge is clade 2, a less severe version of the disease, however the news that Mpox had been detected at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility led to a spike in Google searches about Mpox clade 1 and what the risks are of it spreading to the US.
While clade 1 is most commonly reported, which has been deadly across Africa, clade 2 is nowhere near as deadly and has a 99.9% survival rate.
Though gay and bisexual men were disproportionately affected by Mpox, it is not a “gay disease” and anyone can catch it.
Mpox has spread around the globe, with 99,518 cases in 122 locations as of August 6, according to the CDC.
Is there a vaccine for this clade of Mpox?
According to the CDC, clade 2 is still circulating but there is a Mpox vaccine that is recommended to be delivered in two doses.
A new study has indicated that getting two doses of the Mpox vaccine works to prevent Mpox.
The vaccination is likely to make the infection milder and reduce the risk of severe infection and death.
It’s very rare for people to get Mpox after they’ve been fully vaccinated, vaccinated people became infected in less than 1% of cases.
However, only 23% of eligible people have received the vaccine.
What are the symptoms of Mpox? (Tchandrou Nitanga/Getty)
What are the early symptoms of Mpox?
There is a lot of misinformation surrounding Mpox so it’s important to know the facts.
Mpox is spread primarily by skin-to-skin contact, Clade 2 symptoms can be initially harder to notice. It usually takes between 5 and 21 days for the first symptoms to appear.
The first symptoms of Mpox includes a high temperature (fever), a headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, shivering (chills), exhaustion and joint pain.
A rash usually appears 1 to 5 days after the first symptoms. It can be on any part of the body, including the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, mouth, genitals and anus.
Symptoms of Mpox typically last two to four weeks but may last longer in someone with a weakened immune system.
Mpox is primarily transmitted through close contact, including intimate or sexual contact, with an infected individual or contact with contaminated materials.
You can read the latest official information about Mpox here.
A major US health insurance company is making artificial insemination available on all its eligible plans – regardless of sexual orientation or partner status.
Aetna, a subsidiary of CVS Health, announced the landmark change its intrauterine insemination (IUI) policy on Tuesday (27 August). Members can access the benefit as a test of fertility and, in some cases, to increase the chances of pregnancy.
“Expanding IUI coverage is yet another demonstration of Aetna’s commitment to women’s health across all communities, including LGBTQ+ and unpartnered people,” the company’s chief medical officer, Cathy Moffitt, said.
“This industry-leading policy change is a stake in the ground, reflecting Aetna’s support of all who need to use this benefit as a preliminary step in building their family.”
Aetna is one of the United States’ largest medical insurance providers, serving over 35 million people and when combined with the rest of CVS Health, makes up 11 per cent of the market share.
What is IUI?
Also known as artificial insemination, IUI is a fertility treatment that involves placing specially prepared sperm directly into the uterus. The procedure is done around the time of ovulation, to increase the chances of fertilisation.
The procedure is usually the first step for couples with unexplained fertility problems, but can also be used for single women and LGBTQ+ couples wanting to start a family. Unlike in vitro fertilisation, where the egg is fertilised in a lab and the embryos then implanted into the uterus, IUI is a direct injection of the sperm.
While IUI is generally less costly, the success rates are lower than IVF, especially for those over the age of 35.
Ground-breaking shift in policy for LGBTQ+ parents-to-be
Aetna’s previous policy only provided IUI treatments to straight couples who said they were not able to conceive after trying for six or 12 months, depending on their ages.
Single women and LGBTQ+ couples were required to pay for 12 cycles of IUI before they became eligible for coverage. The discrepancy was the subject of a 2021 lawsuit brought by a couple in New York.
In response, Aetna, without acknowledging any wrongdoing, committed to ensuring equal fertility treatment coverage for all policyholders, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. This includes reimbursing past claims for eligible LGBTQ+ individuals and establishing a $2 million (£1.5 million) fund to compensate those affected by the disparity.
Kate Steinle, the chief clinical officer at Folx, an American healthcare provider for the LGBTQ+ community, said: “We know first-hand the barriers people face in accessing medical care to start or grow their families.
“As an in-network provider focused on the LGBTQ+ community, we applaud Aetna’s efforts to reduce out-of-pocket costs, so that more people can have the families they dream of and deserve.”
The new policy comes into effect on Sunday (1 September).
