How monkeypox spreads

How monkeypox spreads Not repeating the mistakes of the past Enlarge this image Carlos Carmonamedina for NPR Public Editor Carlos Carmonamedina for NPR Public Editor Even if you've never read And The Band Played On, you know that many, many people died needlessly because of the mistakes made by politicians, public health officials and journalists during the first decade of the AIDS crisis. Specifically, he suggested that writers and reporters use the following phrases, or variations on this language: "Monkeypox is spreading mostly among gay and queer people, primarily men who have sex with men," or "the majority of cases are occurring in gay and queer sexual networks," or "currently the risk is highest for gay and bisexual men." The phrase is often used for clinical purposes, but it's also meant to be more inclusive than "gay men" because not every man who has sex with a man is gay. We analyzed several NPR stories on monkeypox, and many used the language "men who have sex with men," but the complete story offered more complexity, rather than implying it could be spread only via sex between men. Sponsor Message For instance, an NPR story on monkeypox vaccine supply acknowledges that gay and queer social networks are most affected and are contracting the virus through sexual contact, but also said it's "possible for monkeypox to transmit nonsexually: people can catch the virus through face-to-face interactions with someone via respiratory droplets or by touching a surface that was contaminated.