The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported on Monday, June 17 a “concerning increase” of 10 new cases of mpox in the past two weeks, up from the countywide average of less than two cases per week in the preceding several weeks.
Mpox — previously referred to as Monkeypox — is mainly spread through close contact with body fluids, sores, shared bedding or clothing, or respiratory droplets from kissing, coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include rash or sores that look like pimples or blisters on the face, body and genitals as well as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches or swelling of lymph nodes.
Early detection, testing and vaccination are vital to controlling the spread of mpox and protecting Los Angeles County residents, according to health officials. Anyone who develops symptoms such as rash, fever or swollen lymph nodes should seek medical attention and get tested, the county health department urged.
Sonali Kulkarni, medical director for the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s division of HIV and STD programs, said on Monday that the 10 recent cases were cisgender men and historically 95% or more of the mpox cases in the county have been men who have had sex with men and/or transgender women.
Because mpox is mostly spread within the LGBTQ+ community, the county Department of Public Health has been offering free vaccines at pop-ups at recent Pride events this month, including L.A. Pride in Hollywood. The agency will be offering vaccines to eligible people at upcoming Pride events in Inglewood, Santa Monica and at the San Fernando Valley Pride event on June 29 in Van Nuys, she said.
Kulkarni said the department is getting the message out to those who come in for testing for STDs, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs prescribed for the prevention of an HIV infection, and other infectious disease testing or treatment.
The uptick in cases prompted the department to alert the media and spread the message that testing and vaccines are available.
“At the beginning of summer and the beginning of Pride season (in June), we are seeing cases come up. We wanted to remind people that this is still an issue,” Kulkarni said.
“That, combined with the general increase in sexual and social activity, prompted us to let folks know about these increased cases and the need to protect themselves,” she said. “Mpox has never really gone away from L.A. County since it first appeared in 2022.”
In L.A. County, about 50,000 people have received the two doses of the JYNNEOS mpox vaccine, yet about 81,000 only received one dose, leaving about 30,000 who need the second dose to be fully protected, she said.
For those who have received the two-dose vaccination, a booster vaccine is not required and not offered, she said. “There is no indication that there is a need for a booster,” she explained.
Vaccines are available at all county clinics. Public Health’s sexual health clinics are found at http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/chs/sexualhealthclinics/ and other walk-up vaccine clinics can be found at https://myturn.ca.gov/. Some pharmacies are also offering the vaccine, she said.
So far, only two people have died in L.A. County after contracting mpox. Those patients had pre-existing auto-immune conditions. Both deaths occurred in 2022 and the disease became fatal when the virus attacked vital organs. There have been no deaths since then, Kulkarni said.
Often, symptoms are very light and that could mean the virus can be passed along to a person’s sexual partners unknowingly, she said. More severe symptoms can occur in those with a compromised immune system, such as severe rectal and anal lesions as well as mouth sores accompanied by severe pain that make it difficult to eat or swallow.
The health department offered the following precautions: reduce the number of sexual partners; use condoms; make sure partners are in good health and do not have new or unexplained rashes or sores; limit going to sex parties or where people are having sex or other intimate contact with multiple people; use gloves to reduce exposure; avoid sharing towels, clothing, bedding, toothbrushes or sex toys; wash hands frequently.
Related links
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City News Service contributed to this article.