Stigma as a facilitator of the 2022 mpox outbreak.

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review aims at exploring how stigma played a role in the naming of mpox, its classification, and how anti-LGBT+ bias and systemic racism all played roles in facilitating the outbreak. RECENT FINDINGS: The naming of mpox is in flux with recent efforts to change back to monkeypox in the United States, which could exacerbate stigma and discrimination. Anti-LGBT+ bias affected access to mpox testing, treatment, and prevention, but mpox also served as a facilitator of homophobic rhetoric. Systemic racism and colonialism both affect the global response to mpox and could further promote endemic fatalism and a lack of equitable global health mpox prevention. SUMMARY: Stigma served as a facilitator of the 2022 mpox outbreak, which was unique from previous outbreaks due to it affecting multiple historically neglected and marginalized populations. Anti-LGBT+ stigma, systemic racism, endemic fatalism, and colonialism all played roles within this outbreak and must be addressed to prevent future outbreaks of mpox.