United States – The United Kingdom-based research established that beyond just the physical pain and discomfort, a large number of the predominantly gay and bisexual men diagnosed with mpox in 2022 experienced prejudice, homophobia, and embarrassment.
Mpox is chiefly transmitted via direct skin-to-skin contact, so most cases in Europe and the US were diagnosed in men having sex with men. The first cases were reported in May of this year when the outbreak reached its highest point in August. A vaccine for the condition was previously endorsed by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019 and was distributed to susceptible people when the outbreak originated, as reported by HealthDay.
As documented by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mpox illness, formerly monkeypox virus, infected more than 32,000 persons in the country, with 58 fatalities. In the UK, the number of mpox cases has risen to about 3,700.
The Impact on Mental Health
It is a disease that usually leads to painful skin sores and scabs. In addition, it can be very dangerous if an individual is HIV infected.
Dr. Charles Witzel, the lead researcher from UCL Institute for Global Health, in the new study, conducted in-depth interviews with 22 gay or bisexual men included in the mpox outbreak.
The interviews concentrated on the illness experience itself and the role of medical services—testing, diagnosis, treatment, and contact tracing—that the men deal with.
Those who were interviewed in these cases usually displayed ongoing mental health issues.
Many people allegedly complained about the media coverage of the outbreak, which they believed to be sensationalism. It employed stereotypes of gay and bisexual men. This finding resulted in the emergence of feelings of shame and sorrow, as the majority of them declared.
Challenges within Health Care Services
This homophobia and stigmatization often showed up in their contact with health care services, even according to the respondents. It was very disappointing that the majority of the staff were not very sensitive or supportive of the LGBTQ+ patients, and, in addition to that, many of them also lacked basic knowledge about the mpox disease.
“It felt like I was — the best way to describe it is probably dirty,” one former patient told the researchers. “I felt actually really not self-conscious because I knew that nobody else would see them [mpox lesions] other than obviously the doctors and nurses. But I felt like I was judging myself basically for having them.”
“I can remember sitting at home and just crying because I was like, ‘What do I do about these?'” he said.
According to Witzel, “stigma was a central feature of mpox illness and could be worsened or lessened depending on the quality of care received and how sensitive it was to the unique needs of gay and bisexual men.”
Improving Care and Support
He found out that clinics that were dealing with sexual health already and hospitals that specialized in infectious diseases were less stigmatizing to patients due to the fact they were more familiar with caring for the LGBTQ+ community.
“However, some hospital services such as A&E departments, which had less experience in providing care to this group, were usually badly equipped to support gay and bisexual men with mpox and, in some cases, treated them very poorly, leading to experiences of stigma,” Witzel said in a UCL news release.
“In order to improve quality of care for emerging infectious diseases, it is important to include affected communities in the development and delivery of support,” he noted.
Also, there was no pain management administered equally for the patients, and (especially early on in the outbreak) it was difficult to gather valid information about one’s health as patients testified.
Many patients experienced post-viral symptoms for the duration of the sickness and even years beyond that. These included urological and rectal problems that often had to be managed by specialists and a number of disabilities that could influence quality of life, the study showed.
Many people said that they felt like they were not people anymore after the disease.
Long-Term Impacts and Aftercare
“There is emerging evidence that mpox causes symptoms of anxiety and depression in those affected, and this study shows the added impact that stigma had on the mental well-being of some men,” said study co-author Alison Rodger, also at UCL Institute for Global Health, as reported by HealthDay.
“Provision of appropriate aftercare for men affected by mpox should include access to longer term psychological support if needed,” she said.