Officials call for change in strategy to combat monkeypox, including renaming it
NEW YORK - There are now nearly 1,100 cases of monkeypox in New York City.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, says the U.S. should change strategy to keep it from spreading.
"It's very clear with the spread of this that there now has to be a balance between vaccines available for those who clearly have been exposed, as well as those at risk. And that's where the now - the change in the distribution - so that you anticipate that someone might get infected as opposed to responding to someone who is infected," Fauci said.
MONKEYPOX IN NYC: Identifying symptoms, prevention tips, how to get a vaccine and more
Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York is expanding monkeypox testing with the approval of the Quest Diagnostics PCR test.
We're calling on @WHO to act immediately to rename the “monkeypox” virus. We have a growing concern for the potentially stigmatizing effects that the messaging around the “monkeypox” virus can have on vulnerable communities. Read our letter: https://t.co/hC6L8o60TH pic.twitter.com/G8CQ9ueaMJ
— Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD (@NYCHealthCommr) July 26, 2022
Meanwhile, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan is calling on the World Health Organization to rename the monkeypox virus, explaining the messaging around monkeypox might have a stigmatizing effect in vulnerable communities.
Vasan wrote that the WHO said they would rename the disease back in June and hasn't done so yet.