Mpox, formerly known as "monkeypox," is an infectious disease that has a high incidence rate among men who have sexual intercourse with other men. The number of individuals infected by Mpox has been increasing gradually in Japan. Smallpox vaccination has been approved as a preventive measure against this disease. Researchers from University of Tsukuba, Japan, conducted a survey to ascertain the number of individuals willing to receive the vaccine and stratified the results based on gender and sexual orientations.

Tsukuba, Japan—Mpox, formerly known as "monkeypox," is a disease resulting from a viral infection. Notably, numerous cases of Mpox have been reported among men having sexual intercourse with other men. Since 2022, the disease has primarily spread across Europe and the US, leading the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency. Japan has also reported cases of the disease, and its outbreak is attracting considerable attention. Mpox bears similarities with smallpox, and therefore, the smallpox vaccine has been approved as a preventive measure against Mpox. In light of this infectious disease, which is thought to be influenced by gender and sexual orientation, a survey was conducted to determine the number of people willing to get vaccinated. The survey comprised data from over 20,000 responses. The results revealed that 23% of the male respondents and 13% of the female respondents were willing to receive the vaccine. Furthermore, willingness toward vaccination was higher among homosexual respondents than their heterosexual counterparts.

The smallpox vaccine is not commonly administered these days. Hence, it is crucial to disseminate reliable information on the effectiveness of the vaccine. Further, it is important to ensure that vaccination does not inadvertently foster discrimination against sexual minorities.

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This study (The Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey 2022: JACSIS 2022) was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grants (21H04856 (T. T.); 20K10467; 20K19633 (D. H.); 20K13721), the Japan Science and Technology agency (JPMJPF2017), the Health Labor Sciences Research Grant (21HA2016), the grant for 2021-2022 Strategic Research Promotion (SK202116) of Yokohama City University and the research program on "Using Health Metrics to Monitor and Evaluate the Impact of Health Policies," conducted at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research.

Original Paper

Title of original paper:

Sexual orientation was associated with intention to be vaccinated with a smallpox vaccine against mpox: A cross-sectional preliminary survey in Japan

Journal:

Vaccine

DOI:

10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.05.050

Correspondence

Assistant Professor HORI Daisuke
Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Institute of Medicine