shades fills you in

On December 3, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it wouldn’t renew mpox (formerly monkeypox) as a public health emergency. Mpox broke out globally over summer 2022, and peaked in the U.S. in August. But it’s slowed significantly since then -- NPR

Wait, why the different names? The W.H.O. changed it after fears that the name “monkeypox” was stigmatizing -- it didn’t even originate in monkeys! Check out Shades’s tile on the name change here

Mpox is a pox virus similar to smallpox but much less severe. It’s usually found in rodents in Central and West Africa, typically doesn’t spread super well between people

But in this outbreak, MPox definitely spread -- and it mostly affected men who have sex with men. So much so that some experts called for it to be reclassified as an STI, reports NBC

CNBC: The CDC says the outbreak is slowing because of vaccines, awareness, and increased immunity -- but warns that it probably won’t be fully eradicated in the U.S

Yes, says The Atlantic, mpox is here to stay. And that’s really worrying, because it’s a super stigmatized disease that disproportionately affects marginalized communities -- and now that it’s calming down, nobody seems to care anymore

The LA Times also blames homophobia and stigma for the lackluster public health response: People think of mpox as a “gay disease” and that makes them way less likely to care

And Wired says the end of the mpox outbreak is bittersweet. It’s good that it’s over, but that’s mostly because queer communities changed their behaviors and agitated for a better response -- not because the government response was that great

Thankfully, if mpox does stick around, there are vaccines: Jynneos and a backup, ACAM2000. The FDA explains the differences

The vax rollout was a little hairy though, with low supplies, split doses, and new injection methods. The Atlantic wasn’t thrilled

But in September, CNBC had some good news: Preliminary CDC data suggests Jynneos is working, even after only the first dose

To track the 2022 outbreak by the numbers, check out the CDC’s tracker here