More than half of monkey pox cases in Riverside County come from Palm Springs alone, according to data released by public health officials Thursday.
Of the 109 reported cases of monkeypox in the province as of Thursday, 59 were in Palm Springs and 20 from Cathedral City. That means that 72% of all cases in the province are in the two cities.
Desert Hot Springs has five suitcases. Other cities in the Coachella Valley area, such as Indio, Palm Desert, and Banning, have fewer than five cases each. The city of Riverside, the county’s most populous municipality with more than 300,000 residents, has five cases.
Palm Springs’ total number of cases exceeds that for all of Orange County, which had confirmed 57 cases on Tuesday, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. Palm Springs has about 48,000 residents, compared to Orange County’s 3.1 million.
All but one reported cases in Riverside County were among men. in California, 98% of the cases were in men and transgender men, while 1.6% of the cases were in women and transgender women.
Nearly half of all reported cases in Riverside County were among whites. Another 22% are Hispanics or Latinos. Racial data was not available in 23% of cases.
Locally, 45% of cases were localized among people who identify as gay, lesbian or same-sex loving. But other data shows that sexual orientation was unknown in 49% of cases, 3% of patients identified as bisexual and 2% were straight.
Cases were most common in people aged 35 to 44 (28%) in Riverside County. Another 23% of the cases fell in the age group of 45 to 54 years, while 22% were in the age group of 55 to 64 years.
According to data from their respective public health departments, there have been 1,036 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Los Angeles County as of Thursday and 610 confirmed and probable cases in San Francisco. Most cases were among men and people in their thirties and forties, similar to trends in Riverside County.
Monkeypox is a disease caused by the Monkeypox virus. People usually become infected through close contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids from infected animals or people (live or dead), including droplets, or clothing and bedding from an infected person. The virus can also be spread through sexual contact, but it is not classified as a sexually transmitted infection.
Symptoms can appear five to 21 days after exposure and include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, rash, and lesions, often in the genital and perianal area. Illness usually lasts two to four weeks.
Riverside County Public Health reported two more confirmed or probable cases of monkey pox among men on Thursday.
Both patients are between the ages of 35 and 45, with one from the Coachella Valley and the other from the western part of the county, said county spokesman Jose Arballo Jr.
Anyone who believes they have been exposed to monkey pox should contact their healthcare provider.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
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