Monkeypox getting attention in Boulder County

Five Boulder County residents have tested positive for the monkeypox virus and about 100 have received the monkeypox vaccine. The presence of the virus is sparking concern in the LGBTQ+ community and fueling local efforts to get vaccinations out to those considered the most vulnerable, say local activists.

“I think our community is scared and rightfully so,” Jax Gonzalez, community liaison for Boulder County Public Health and Environment’s monkeypox response team. Gonzalez, who identifies as queer, said that fear is fueling efforts to assure the LGBTQ+ community that public health officials taking the virus seriously.

LGBTQ+ members worry that the response to the monkeypox will be slow and the people most vulnerable to the virus will be stigmatized as they were during the AIDS outbreak, Gonzalez said..

“I understand the folks who have lived through that process, and why they would feel that way, it is triggering a lot of emotions for them,” Gonzalez said. 

But, Gonzalez said, it is not being handled the same way. “We have actually responded as quickly as possible to make sure our community is being served,” Gonzalez said.

Media and some in the general public have likened monkeypox with the AIDS virus because it affects, at least initially, those who identify as LGBTQ+, said Bruce Parker, deputy director of Out Boulder County.

“The key difference is monkeypox is not killing people and they are rolling out vaccines,” Parker said. Even though there is a frustration with the lack of speed in testing and vaccines, public health officials have made monkeypox a top priority, Parker said.

“It is still so easy to fall into the same trope because of the community it affects,” Parker said. “That it is a ‘gay disease.’”

Monkeypox can spread from person to person when someone who has monkeypox has close contact with someone else, according to the monkeypox fact sheet on the CDPHE web page. Close contact includes sex. Monkeypox can also spread through touching the bed linens or clothing of someone who has monkeypox, the CDPHE states.

The type of monkeypox spreading in the United States is rarely deadly and has a fatality rate of less than 1%. In fact, in most cases, monkeypox will resolve on its own, the CDPHE states.

Symptoms of monkeypox may begin with flu-like symptoms that can include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion. Typically, a rash or skin bumps develop within one to three days after the onset of fever, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body, the CDPHE states.

The current eligibility criteria for vaccination determined by the Centers for Disease Control are:

• People who believe they have been in close contact with someone who has monkeypox in the last 14 days.
• Gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men, or transgender, non-binary or gender-diverse person aged 18 years and older who:
  • Have had multiple sexual partners in the last 14 days
  • Have had sexual partners they did not previously know in the last 14 days
  • Have had close physical contact with other people in a venue where anonymous or group sex may occur
• Anyone identified by public health as a known high-risk contact of someone who has monkeypox.

Free monkeypox clinics are scheduled over the next two weeks by Out Boulder County, which  advocates for LGBTQ+ members. The clinics are being held in conjunction with the CDPHE.

The first is being held today, Saturday August 20, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Pride House, 1443 Spruce St., in Boulder. The second clinic is slated for Friday, Aug. 26, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Equality Center of the Rocky Mountains, 3340 Mitchell Lane, in Boulder. Registration is required.

Boulder County Public Health and Environment also is holding free vaccine clinics at the Longmont Hub, 515 Coffman St. The clinics will be held every Thursday from 3-7:45 p.m. starting Aug. 25 through September 15. Registration also is required.

Both Out Boulder County and Boulder County Public Health and Environment refer to the monkeypox virus as MPX.

Monkeypox is misleading because the virus did not originate from monkeys and MPX is a neutral term that doesn’t hold the stigma that “monkeypox” does, according to the Out Boulder County website.

“Monkeypox” invokes racist and homophobic ideas, similar to the AIDS epidemic, by falsely implying that the virus resulted from interspecies sexual activity in Africa, the website states.