'Stressed out' STD clinics struggle to handle surge in monkeypox patients as U.S. outbreak grows - CNBC

Ward Carpenter, co-director of health services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said the monkeypox outbreak across the U.S.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center has had to shift so much of its staff to respond to the outbreak that it no longer has the capacity for urgent and walk-in care for its patients, Carpenter said.

The center is providing monkeypox vaccinations, testing and treatment on top of its normal services, which include primary care, HIV care, sexual health, women's health and mental health.

health officials designated monkeypox as a national health emergency on Thursday as cases surge and clinics struggle.

Since the United Kingdom first alerted the world to the presence of the virus in May, sexual health clinics across the world have been the eyes and ears of national public health systems, identifying unusual symptoms that diverge from the usual description of the disease in medical literature.

Physicians at clinics in Los Angeles and Chicago, major centers of the current outbreak in the U.S., say they are struggling to keep up with the demand for vaccines, testing and treatment from the communities they serve and are in need of financial support to respond to the outbreak.

Anu Hazra, a physician and infectious disease expert at Howard Brown Health in Chicago.

Though gay and bisexual men are currently at the highest risk, public health officials have repeatedly emphasized that anyone can catch monkeypox through physical contact with someone infected with the virus or via contaminated materials such as towels and bedsheets.

"This is going to take a coordinated and committed and comprehensive public health strategy that goes from top to bottom and treats it just as seriously as Covid was," he said.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center knew in early May that monkeypox was going to become a major health issue for the communities it serves after cases reported in Europe indicated transmission was occurring in sexual networks of gay and bisexual men, according to Carpenter.

Hazra said the number of people coming in for monkeypox screenings at Howard Brown Health in Chicago has increased exponentially since May.

lawmakers and local communities have criticized the pace of the federal government's response, but Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said last week the Biden administration has done everything it can to ramp up the availability of vaccines, testing and treatment to fight the outbreak.

More than 100 members of Congress told President Joe Biden in a letter late last month that the administration needs to do more to support sexual health clinics on the front lines.

Hazra at Howard Brown in Chicago said Covid showed that public health in general is chronically underfunded.

Sexual health is even more ignored, he said.

Though monkeypox is not classified as an STD, sexual health clinics are the primary point of care for many people who have the virus, which causes a rash that can be confused with sexually transmitted infections.

A survey of 80 clinics in late July found 40% had unanticipated costs for supplies and personnel due to the monkeypox outbreak, while 65% stopped taking walk-in patients and shifted to appointment only due to capacity issues, according to the coalition.

But Carpenter said the vaccination campaign needs to expand so anyone who thinks they're at risk for monkeypox can get the shots.

The approach is far from perfect, Carpenter said, because there are many people who haven't caught an STD in the past year who are also at risk for monkeypox.

While vaccine access remains limited, Hazra and Carpenter said the federal response has significantly improved access to testing and antiviral treatments in recent weeks.