monkeypox

A West Virginia nonprofit group says it's been awarded $100,000 in grants for monkeypox vaccination and education efforts among LGTBQ individuals in 13 Appalachian states. The Community Education Group received the grants to develop and distribute materials, offer grants and hold meetings aimed at reducing cultural stigmas and barriers related to the virus. CEG also will accept grant applications from organizations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The perception that the response to the monkeypox virus in the South has lacked coordination has rekindled familiar concerns about recent state policies that leave members of the region’s LGBTQ+ communities feeling marginalized and discriminated against. More urgently, it raises questions about whether state and local health departments are doing enough to protect the people principally affected by the virus: men who have sex with men.

August 6, 2022 — The latest on monkeypox, or MPX, and the state's strategy to combat it; news on Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-SC, subpoena drama with authorities in Georgia; updates on legislative movements in Congress and how South Carolina leaders have voted; and more.

On Friday, DHEC confirmed cases of monkeypox in the Midlands and Low Country; emphasized that public health risk is low.