Joel * told the Guardian that he had asked for advice on testing and vaccination after realizing that close contact had exposed the monkeys to smallpox and had developed symptoms. However, Joel said he had difficulty accessing the trials in London during the jubilee bank holiday and was rejected for a vaccine, initially told he was only available to healthcare staff. Joel was later confirmed to have been in close contact with monkey pox by the United Kingdom Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA) and was told he should have been offered the vaccine. However, the delay meant he was no longer fit for the piercing. Current guidelines suggest that the vaccine should ideally be given within four days of exposure to prevent or reduce the effects of the infection, although it can be given to high-risk individuals up to 14 days after exposure to reduce symptoms. . Joel said the process was stressful, noting that one concern in the community was whether monkey pox could leave permanent scars on those infected, adding that with LGBT events involving anonymous sex continuing, it seems likely that smallpox will continue to spread. “It’s been so long [public health bodies] to trace [close contacts] “They have to go out and vaccinate a lot of risk groups effectively to stop this,” he said. Joel said he was initially told to be isolated for 21 days, but was unable to do so for financial and mental health reasons, noting that he was self-employed and did not want his co-workers to know he was bisexual. He then tested positive for monkey pox and was asked to isolate until all the crusts had fallen off. According to the UKHSA, test takers are usually informed of their results within 24 hours, with contacts being identified and monitored as soon as possible and vaccination offered if needed. However, the agency itself has identified challenges, “as most cases reported having sex with young or casual partners, sometimes on a cruise or during chemsex, often where contact information was not available for identification.”

  • Matt, who also lives in London, said he had sex with a man who later contacted him to tell him he had symptoms and had come into contact with a confirmed case. When Matt called 111, he was advised to isolate himself for 21 days, but was not offered a vaccine because his contact had not yet been tested and confirmed as a case. “Desperate” to get the vaccine before he could start having serious symptoms, he told a contact tracker that he had come in contact with the confirmed case and was vaccinated five days after sexual intercourse. By the time he was examined three days later, he had five injuries. “The doctor said I had one of the mildest cases he had ever seen, and when I said I was going to get the vaccine, he said it probably because of that,” Matt said. However, while not critical of the response from healthcare staff, who said he “did his best with a limited number of doses”, he said he believed UKHSA’s public messages about the disease needed to change. “They do not seem to take into account how quickly it can spread to gay male networks where people have many, many sexual partners,” he said. Adding that before he became infected he could have up to 20 sexual partners a week, Matt noted that in places like saunas or “cruise bars” few people exchange details. “If you tell people too much, they will just ignore it. “But one thing they could say is, if you’re going to keep having sex with a lot of people, get their phone number so that one of you can communicate with the other.” “It’s a short-term change that seems to make a lot of sense.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST The UKHSA told the Guardian that in addition to compulsory sickness pay, in special cases, local authorities may grant discreet payments to those isolated to mitigate the community transmission of a high-risk infectious disease. The agency said the vaccines were offered on a case-by-case basis. A UKHSA spokesman said: “The decision as to whether or not to offer a vaccine in close contact with a confirmed case of monkey pox is a clinical decision made by trained health care teams who carry out detailed assessments on a case-by-case basis. This includes the specific details of the exposure and the individual’s level of risk. At present, the Imvanex vaccine is only offered for close contact with a higher risk exposure and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
  • Some names have changed.