Mpox Stigma During the 2022 Outbreak Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States

Mpox emerged on the global scale in 2022 and predominately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Stigma related to mpox is a potential harm for individuals experiencing multiple levels of marginalization who may already be discriminated against in family, healthcare, and other social domains. To understand perceived mpox stigma among cisgender GBMSM in the United States (US), we conducted a study within the American Men's Internet Survey (AMIS) with 824 cisgender GBMSM ≥15 years from August 5-15, 2022. Perceived mpox stigma was most prevalent among non-Hispanic Black individuals (13.9%) compared to non-Hispanic white individuals (6.0%) and particularly among men aged 25-29 (15.1%) compared to men aged 40+ (5.6%). In adjusted logistic regression models, mpox stigma was significantly associated with knowing someone who tested for mpox (aOR=4.3 95% CI=2.1, 9.0), knowing someone who was vaccinated for mpox (aOR=2.1; 95% CI= 1.2, 3.7), or having an unexplained rash in the three months prior to survey completion (aOR=3.6; 95% CI= 1.9, 7.0). These initial findings suggested people who were more connected to mpox-affected social networks and also those who had symptoms consistent with mpox were more likely to experience stigma. Taken together, these data suggest the potential harmful impact of mpox-related stigma by affecting those who would most benefit from services. Moreover, these data suggest the importance of real-time stigma measurement and mitigation for both rapidly emergent and chronic infectious diseases to improve equity, reduce fear and misinformation, and optimize the impact of public health responses.