Half of US men who have sex with men (MSM) are changing their sexual behaviors because of the monkeypox outbreak, according to a new survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The vast majority of the 16,926 monkeypox cases in the United States occur in men who report having a sexual encounter with another man in the 3 weeks prior to infection, and a second MMWR study today estimates the extent to which the disease could be contained by reducing sexual encounters.

Vaccine uptake highest in Hispanic men

From Aug 5 to Aug 15, 824 men MSM completed an online survey on sexual behavior, and 48% reported reducing their number of sex partners, 50% reported reducing one-time sexual encounters, and 50% reported reducing sex with partners met on dating apps or at sex venues since learning about the monkeypox outbreak.

Of the survey participants 1 in 5 said they had received at least one dose of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine. Vaccine uptake was highest among Hispanic or Latino men (27.1%), and lowest among Black men (11.5%). Uptake was higher among urban MSM (27.8%) compared with suburban men (14.5%) and men who live in other areas (5.7% to 7.0%).

"Among 662 persons who had not received monkeypox vaccine, 180 (28.5%) indicated that they had tried to get vaccinated," the authors wrote.

Overall 11.4% of respondents said they knew someone who had contacted the virus, and three participants had been diagnosed as having monkeypox. However, 82.3% said they felt confident they could protect themselves from monkeypox.

"These findings suggest that MSM are already taking actions to protect their sexual health and making decisions to reduce risk to themselves and their partners. These changes are important to protect MSM from exposure before access to vaccine is possible and after vaccination," the authors concluded.

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