Being Proven Right Doesn’t Mean You Get Justice

I wasn't the first person to raise that monkeypox was primarily being transmitted through gay sex. Dimie Ogoina, a researcher in Nigeria, raised this in a 2019 journal article when he reported on unusual findings from the 2017 Nigeria outbreak:

"...it is noteworthy that a substantial number of our cases who were young adults in their reproductive age presenting with genital ulcers, as well as concomitant syphilis and HIV infection. Although the role of sexual transmission of human monkeypox is not established, sexual transmission is plausible in some of these patients through close skin to skin contact during sexual intercourse or by transmission via genital secretions (1)."

Dr. Ogoina has since published additional articles in support of sexual transmission of monkeypox (2,3). Since the New York Times article was published on July 19, 2022, I have heard from numerous public health colleagues from across the country echoing my sentiments and thanking me for speaking truth to power. The reason none of them have come forward is that they fear, for good reason, retaliation. A number of media articles, many originating from within the LGBTQ+ community, have pointedly questioned the reluctance on the part of public officials to clearly state that oral and anal sex are fueling the pandemic. Despite CDC knowing that none of the 47 cases in the 2003 US Midwest outbreak were a result of human to human skin contact (4) , and the that household contact was not a factor in another outbreak in Nigeria (5) they did not feel the need to consider these facts in their massaging. Messaging  that US states followed.  This is particularly perplexing considering the early reports that were coming out of Portugal and Spain in mid-May 2022 (https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/portugal-identifies-five-monkeypox-infections-spain-has-eight-suspected-cases-2022-05-18/).  And even as new information comes out, NPR continues to report that skin-to-skin contact is the major transmission and there remains a reluctance to state clearly that sex is driving the pandemic (https://www.qeios.com/read/2Z4ZH4.2). 

And although it appears the outbreak in NYC has finally peaked, the havoc, pain, and anxiety it has caused was largely preventable. I am not referring to vaccine, which is an expensive, limited resource, and delayed method, that hasn't fully been proven to prevent cases transmitted via sex. Unfortunately, yesterday's New York City Council Hearing on monkeypox didn't address the public communication issue or attempt to fix what is broken within DOHMH. As far as my plight is concerned, it is now up to the NYC Department of Investigation to find wrong doing in Commissioner Vasan and his co-conspirator's actions. A lawsuit remains an option.

1. Ogoina D, Izibewule JH, Ogunleye A, Ederiane E, Anebonam U, Neni A, et al. (2019) The 2017 human monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria- Report of outbreak experience and response in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. PLoS ONE 14(4): e0214229. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214229
2. Ogoina D, Yinka-Ogunleye A. Sexual history of human monkeypox patients seen at a tertiary hospital in Bayelsa, Nigeria. Int J STD AIDS. 2022 Aug 15:9564624221119335. doi: 10.1177/09564624221119335. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35969500.
3. Published Online August 8, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(22)01497-0 See Online/Articles https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(22)01436-2
4. Reed KD, Melski JW, Graham MB, Regnery RL, Sotir MJ, Wegner MV, Kazmierczak JJ, Stratman EJ, Li Y, Fairley JA, Swain GR, Olson VA, Sargent EK, Kehl SC, Frace MA, Kline R, Foldy SL, Davis JP, Damon IK. The detection of monkeypox in humans in the Western Hemisphere. N Engl J Med. 2004 Jan 22;350(4):342-50. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa032299. PMID: 14736926.
5. Ogoina D, Yinka-Ogunleye A. Sexual history of human monkeypox patients seen at a tertiary hospital in Bayelsa, Nigeria. Int J STD AIDS. 2022 Aug 15:9564624221119335. doi: 10.1177/09564624221119335. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35969500.