WASHINGTON —
Monkeypox cases are still climbing in the DMV, with Maryland now nearly matching D.C. with around 350 cases since the start of the outbreak.
And that's not all the latest data shows.
"There's a disparity that's occurring," said Dr. Adam Brown, emergency physician and founder at ABIG Health. "And if it's not corrected, then we're going to see that disparity widened."
Tuesday, DC Health officials followed through on a promise of more transparency around the District's monkeypox response. The latest numbers show while about 47% of cases have affected white men, about 60% of the vaccines have gone to white people. That's about 10,000 doses compared to 3,400 for Black residents.
A disparity not unlike what the District saw with its COVID response, says Dr. Brown.
"When you also look at where those vaccines are being delivered they're not necessarily in areas that are easy to get to or at times that are convenient to people that would need to get them. So those become barriers, transportation barriers, work and time barriers and even barriers to be able to get online to register," he said.
Dr. Brown also points out the disparity gap is much worse in other states.
Also, Wednesday the University of Maryland reported its first presumptive case of monkeypox in a staff member.
UMD says it is cleaning and contact tracing with Prince George's County health officials.
Montgomery County is planning a series of virtual town hall meetings about monkeypox and the LGBTQIA+ community. The first of these meetings is scheduled for Aug. 22, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Registration is required to attend the meeting and can be completed online, here
Dr. Brown says perspective is key.
"If college students are having multiple sexual partners, if college students are having activities that expose them to skin to skin or lesion to skin activities, the answer is yes, it's a risk," he said. "But it appears so far that it's less risky for general type of activities that people would be having."