{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,30]],"date-time":"2026-10-30T03:06:34Z","timestamp":1793329594059,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Humanities"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,7]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>In May 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to recede from public view, another infectious disease surprised the world\u2014mpox (formerly monkeypox). It appeared to disproportionately affect gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). Using qualitative thematic analysis and social representations theory, we analysed a corpus of 91 items from a variety of news outlets that included GBMSM community members\u2019 personal accounts of living through an mpox outbreak. The aim was to study the various ways in which members of a marginalised group created social representations of mpox and to ascertain whether these challenged older representations related to HIV and AIDS and newer ones related to COVID-19. Commentators anchored mpox to known, culturally accessible phenomena to render this previously unfamiliar disease familiar; objectified aspects of mpox, especially pain, through emotive language, making it \u2018real\u2019 and psychologically tangible; personified it by linking it to accounts of celebrity activists; and ontologised it through visually vivid descriptions. Challenging stigma was a cross-cutting theme in people\u2019s accounts. In contrast to the stigmatising imagery of health issues affecting GBMSM, these accounts contribute to the development of social representations designed to challenge such stigmatisation, which, in the contexts of HIV and AIDS and COVID-19, has hindered effective medical interventions, promoted misinformation and fuelled denigration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2023-012786","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]],"date-time":"2024-12-05T13:16:02Z","timestamp":1733404562000},"page":"161-171","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Mpox in the news: social representations, identity, stigma and coping"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"51","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6617-7827","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Brigitte","family":"Nerlich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8463-9519","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rusi","family":"Jaspal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Brighton, Brighton, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]]},"reference":[{"issue":"10","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2022-010630","article-title":"\u201cMonkeypox and the Legacy of Prejudice in Targeted Public Health Campaigns.\u201d","volume":"7","author":"Aquino","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ Global Health"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.2","article-title":"\u201cMental Health Implications of Monkeypox: An Urgent Need for Action.\u201d","volume":"82","author":"Aroyewun","year":"2022","journal-title":"Annals of Medicine and Surgery (2012)"},{"issue":"1","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S34","DOI":"10.1086\/524986","article-title":"\u201cStigma in the Time of Influenza: Social and Institutional Responses to Pandemic Emergencies.\u201d","volume":"197 Suppl 1","author":"Barrett","year":"2008","journal-title":"The Journal of Infectious Diseases"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/JNC.0000000000000367"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706qp063oa"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Breakwell G . 2014. \u201cIdentity and Social Representations.\u201d In Identity Process Theory: Identity, Social Action and Social Change, edited by Jaspal R. and Breakwell G. M. , 118\u201334. Cambridge, U. K: Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139136983.010"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Breakwell G. M . 2021. Mistrust. Sage Publications Ltd.","DOI":"10.4135\/9781529770070"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5964\/jspp.7425"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.janxdis.2006.03.014"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/tmi.13798"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(22)00652-1"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dialog.2022.100095","article-title":"\u201cA Sentiment and Content Analysis of Tweets on Monkeypox Stigma among the LGBTQ+ Community: A Cue to Risk Communication Plan.\u201d","volume":"2","author":"Dsouza","year":"2023","journal-title":"Dialogues in Health"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dukers-Muijrers N. H. T. M. , Evers Y. , Widdershoven V. , Davidovich U. , and Adam P. C. G. . 2022. \u201cMonkeypox Vaccination Willingness, Determinants, and Communication Needs in Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men\u201d. medRxiv. doi:10.1101\/2022.10.11.22280965","DOI":"10.1101\/2022.10.11.22280965"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.14","unstructured":"ECDC . 2022. \u201cEuropean Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: Navigating Monkeypox: Considerations for Gay and Bisexual Men and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men\u201d. Available from: https:\/\/www.ecdc.europa.eu\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Navigating-monkeypox-considerations-for-gay-bisexual-and-MSM.pdf. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"issue":"1","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12941-022-00518-2","article-title":"\u201cMonkeypox Outbreaks during COVID-19 Pandemic: Are We Looking at an Independent Phenomenon or an Overlapping Pandemic?\u201d","volume":"21","author":"Farahat","year":"2022","journal-title":"Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.o2504"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.12688\/wellcomeopenres.18436.1","article-title":"\u201cIs Mpox an STI? The Societal Aspects and Healthcare Implications of a Key Question.\u201d","volume":"7","author":"Garcia Iglesias","year":"2022","journal-title":"Wellcome Open Research"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.18","unstructured":"Garcia-Iglesias J . 2022. \u201cMonkeypox and the Historic Need for a Sociology of Desires.\u201d Everyday Society. Available from: https:\/\/es.britsoc.co.uk\/monkeypox-and-the-historic-need-for-a-sociology-of-desires\/. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.19","unstructured":"Gilligan C . 1982. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women\u2019s Development. Harvard University Press."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.20","unstructured":"Goffman E . 1963. Stigma. London: Penguin."},{"issue":"8","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3001769","article-title":"\u201cUrgent Need for a Non-Discriminatory and Non-Stigmatizing Nomenclature for Monkeypox Virus.\u201d","volume":"20","author":"Happi","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS Biology"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0277-9536(89)90062-2"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.23","unstructured":"Highleyman L . 2022. \u201cNot Everyone Has to Be Equally Worried about Monkeypox.\u201d Slate. Available from: https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2022\/07\/monkeypox-spread-sex-men-vaccines-worry.html. Accessed 5 Sep 2024."},{"issue":"2","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1515\/nor-2017-0109","article-title":"\u201cSocial Representations Theory.\u201d","volume":"32","author":"H\u00f6ijer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nordicom Review"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jaspal R. , and Breakwell G. M. , eds. 2014. Identity Process Theory: Identity, Social Action and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139136983"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/sah0000401"},{"issue":"28","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24918","DOI":"10.1007\/s12144-022-03631-9","article-title":"\u201cMinority Stressors, Protective Factors and Mental Health Outcomes in Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People in the UK.\u201d","volume":"42","author":"Jaspal","year":"2023","journal-title":"Current Psychology"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1363459320949901"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.29","first-page":"21","article-title":"\u201cSocial Representations and the AIDS Field.\u201d","volume":"24","author":"Joffe","year":"1998","journal-title":"Psychology, Society & Education"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.add5966"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lim J. R. , Jun H. , and Ledford V. . 2022. \u201cLGBTQ+ Individuals\u2019 Layered Stigma Experiences during COVID-19 Outbreaks: The Stigmatizing Consequences of Ineffective Risk Communication\u201d. PsyArXiv. doi:10.31234\/osf.io\/2nbmj","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/2nbmj"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.32","unstructured":"Maison M . 2022. \u201cMonkeypox: Why Are Gay and Bisexual Men More Affected?\u201d Le Monde. Available from: https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/health\/article\/2022\/07\/26\/monkeypox-why-are-gay-and-bisexual-men-more-affected_5991445_14.html"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-5914.1987.tb00105.x"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsp.2420180303"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.35","unstructured":"Moscovici S . 2000. Social Representations. Explorations in Social Psychology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.36","unstructured":"Moscovici S. , and Hewstone M. . 1983. \u201cSocial Representations and Social Explanations: From the \u2018Naive\u2019 to the \u2018Amateur\u2019 Scientist.\u201d In Attribution Theory: Social and Functional Extentions, edited by Hewstone M. , 98\u2013125. Oxford: Basil Blackwel."},{"issue":"9","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/s13312-022-2610-6","article-title":"\u201cMonkeypox Disease Outbreak (2022): Correspondence.\u201d","volume":"59","author":"Mungmunpuntipantip","year":"2022","journal-title":"Indian Pediatrics"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2022.09.008"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.39","unstructured":"NHS . 2022. \u201cNational Health Service, UK, Monkeypox\u201d. Available from: https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/monkeypox\/. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/lgbt.2022.0251"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/hiv.13430"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/hpm.3539"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shah T . 2022. \u201c\u2018The New Gay Plague\u2019: Analysis of Public Attitudes toward Monkeypox.\u201d doi:10.1101\/2022.11.01.22281797","DOI":"10.1101\/2022.11.01.22281797"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/10497323241234482"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sousa \u00c1. F. L. de , Sousa A. R. de , and Fronteira I. . 2022. \u201cMonkeypox: Between Precision Public Health and Stigma Risk.\u201d Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem 75 (5). doi:10.1590\/0034-7167.2022750501pt","DOI":"10.1590\/0034-7167.2022750501pt"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Storer D. , Holt M. , Paparini S. , Haire B. , Cornelisse V. J. , MacGibbon J. , Broady T. R. , et al . 2024. \u201cInformed, but Uncertain: Managing Transmission Risk and Isolation in the 2022 Mpox Outbreak among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia.\u201d Culture, Health & Sexuality: 1\u201316. doi:10.1080\/13691058.2024.2346540","DOI":"10.1080\/13691058.2024.2346540"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sv P. , and Ittamalla R. . 2022. \u201cWhat Concerns the General Public the Most about Monkeypox Virus? - A Text Analytics Study Based on Natural Language Processing (NLP).\u201d Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 49. doi:10.1016\/j.tmaid.2022.102404","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tmaid.2022.102404"},{"issue":"1","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-024-19062-z","article-title":"\u201c\u2018It\u2019s Another Gay Disease\u2019: An Intersectional Qualitative Approach Contextualizing the Lived Experiences of Young Gay, Bisexual, and Other Sexual Minoritized Men in the United States during the Mpox Outbreak.\u201d","volume":"24","author":"Takenaka","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.o1489"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.50","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . 2022. \u201cInvestigation into Monkeypox Outbreak in England: Technical Briefing 7.\u201d Gov.uk. Available from: https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/monkeypox-outbreak-technical-briefings\/investigation-into-monkeypox-outbreak-in-england-technical-briefing-7. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.51","unstructured":"UK Health Security Agency . 2024. \u201cMpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Epidemiological Overview.\u201d Gov.uk. Available from: https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/monkeypox-outbreak-epidemiological-overview\/mpox-monkeypox-outbreak-epidemiological-overview-13-june-2024. Accessed 1 Jul 2024."},{"issue":"11","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.52","article-title":"\u201cAcceptance towards Monkeypox Vaccination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.\u201d","volume":"11","author":"Ulloque-Badaracco","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland)"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.53","unstructured":"Whitworth J . 2022. \u201cMonkeypox \u2013 Here\u2019s What You Need to Know.\u201d Londond School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicien. Available from: https:\/\/www.lshtm.ac.uk\/newsevents\/expert-opinion\/monkeypox-heres-what-you-need-know"},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.54","unstructured":"WHO . 2022. \u201cWorld Health Organisation: Multi-Country Monkeypox Outbreak: Situation Update.\u201d Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/disease-outbreak-news\/item\/2022-DON390. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.55","unstructured":"WHO . 2024a. \u201c2022-24 Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends.\u201d World Health Organisation. Available from: https:\/\/worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io\/mpx_global\/. Accessed 13 Sep 2024."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.56","unstructured":"WHO . 2024b. \u201cWHO Director-General Declares Mpox Outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern\u201d. World Health Organisation. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/14-08-2024-who-director-general-declares-mpox-outbreak-a-public-health-emergency-of-international-concern. Accessed 15 Aug 2024."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.57","unstructured":"WHO Europe . 2022a. \u201cWorld Health Organisation, Europe: Perceptions of Monkeypox from Those Most at Risk: Men Who Have Sex Withmen Having Multiple Sexual Partners\u201d. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/europe\/news\/item\/26-08-2022-perceptions-of-monkeypox-from-those-most-at-risk--men-who-have-sex-with-men-having-multiple-sexual-partners. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.58","unstructured":"WHO Europe . 2022b. \u201cWorld Health Organisation Europe: Considerations for the Control and Elimination of Monkeypox in the WHO European Region: Policy Brief No.1\u201d. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/europe\/publications\/i\/item\/WHO-EURO-2022-6007-45772-65872. Accessed 1 Dec 2022."},{"key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2024.102522","article-title":"\u201cExperiences of Mpox Illness and Case Management among Cis and Trans Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men in England: A Qualitative Study.\u201d","volume":"70","author":"Witzel","year":"2024","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"issue":"10","key":"2025092412330365000_51.1.161.60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2022.36993","article-title":"\u201cUsing Data From a Short Video Social Media Platform to Identify Emergent Monkeypox Conspiracy Theories.\u201d","volume":"5","author":"Zenone","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA Network Open"}],"container-title":["Medical Humanities"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012786","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T19:33:21Z","timestamp":1758742401000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012786"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]]},"references-count":60,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,24]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/medhum-2023-012786"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/medhum-2023-012786","relation":{},"ISSN":["1468-215X","1473-4265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1468-215X","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-4265","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]]}}}