Public health officials are grappling with how far to go in advising gay men to alter their sexual behavior as the monkeypox virus predominately spreads through their social networks but is a threat to anyone.
The chief World Health Organization specifically advised gay men to reduce their number of sexual partners but others, including the health commissioner in New York City, have warned that abstinence messages don’t work.
The Biden administration is taking a middle road. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recent days updated its guidance to say anyone — not just gay men — can limit their exposure to monkeypox by limiting sexual partners and avoiding “spaces like back rooms, saunas, sex clubs, or private and public sex parties, where intimate, often anonymous sexual contact with multiple partners occurs.