Community Voices: ¡Cuídate, Vacúnate y PrEPárate!
Illustration by Jasmin Hernandez
By Pedro Alonso Serrano
Additional writing by Bryan Huerta
Leer en Español
‘Earlier this year, we witnessed the outbreak of the Monkeypox virus. The outbreak began in June of 2022 and continued to rise over the summer months of July and August. International agencies, such as World Health Organization (WHO), declared Monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.”
The monkeypox outbreak occurred just as the Chicago Queer Latina/x/o Collaborative (cqlab.info) launched PrEParate, a bilingual English/Spanish and culturally responsive campaign to promote PrEP to traditionally underserved Latina/x/o audiences throughout Cook County, IL.
Although the large urban city centers in the United States, such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, reported the highest numbers of Monkeypox cases, they also received the largest amounts of JYNNEOS, the FDA-approved vaccine that effectively prevents Monkeypox infection.
In Chicago alone, a total of 1,087 cases of Monkeypox were reported (as of November 02), with 297 cases outside Chicago for a total of 1,384 across the state of Illinois. However, among Latina/x/os in metro Chicago, 326 (30.0%) patients tested positive. A worse disparity was observed for the state overall with 414 (30%) cases among Latina/x/os. It is defined as a disparity because only 18% of Illinois residents identify as Latina/x/o.
About 70 people were hospitalized due to severe pain caused by the monkeypox infection, which requires treatment by Tecoviromat (TPOXX), an antiviral medication that treats smallpox and other pain-relieving medicines. However, this is all preventable by receiving a 2-shot vaccination series, which is accessible locally at the North Riverside Health Center of Cook County on Cermak and Harlem. In addition, there are many other vaccination providers in Chicago and throughout the suburbs of Cook County and Illinois.
Unfortunately, those who are Latina/x/os were also not getting vaccinated enough by the JYNNEOS vaccine in order to prevent the spread of this infection among our communities.
“Availability of the JYNNEOS vaccine has grown throughout the US and metro Chicago, and if someone is at high risk and wants to be protected against Monkeypox, they can receive their first and second doses. In addition to health providers, many organizations are hosting Monkeypox vaccine clinics and events,” said Miguel A. Blancarte, Jr., who led a 24-hour Monkeypox Vacunatón (Vax-A-Thon) and Community Resource Fair in Chicago’s Southwest.
That’s why efforts like PrEParate are so important. PrEParate was collaboratively planned, designed and launched by a collective of Cicero, Berwyn and Chicago-area LGBTQ+-identified Latina/x/o public health and creative professionals.
The campaign production team included a team of early career health professionals: Rene Guerrero (Howard Brown Health), Juan Martinez (CALOR/AIDS Healthcare Foundation) and Jose Hernandez Lopez (Northwestern University) of Little Village/Midway, Bryan Huerta (UI Health) and Pablo Vicente (Rush University System for Health) of Cicero, Moises Medina (Chicago Queer Latinx Collaborative) of Berwyn and Roburt Davis (Videographer) of Oak Park.
We hope that this campaign may inspire those in suburban Cook County to access sexual health and wellness services, including PrEP for HIV prevention through our community partners including community-based partners Corazon Community Services in Cicero, the metropolitan and county-wide network of Cook County HIV Integrated Program community health centers and UI Health Milesquare Health Centers.
As a community of concerned artists and health practitioners, it is highly recommended to get vaccinated in order to prevent the spread of this virus throughout our Latina/x/o families, friends and loved ones.
“Es interesante y frustrante a la vez encontrarnos al punto de tener una nueva pandemia sin acabar con una previa. Pero sí siento que con la viruela hay más motivación, más innovación al encontrar soluciones a los problemas que se siguen presentando como la desconfianza del gobierno e instituciones de salud y la incertidumbre sobre la seguridad de vacunas. Me da mucha esperanza ver cómo hemos reaccionado contra la viruela del mono comparado a COVID 19. Siento mucho más movimiento esta vez,” said Luna Ocampo, a consultant at the Chicago Queer Latinx Collaborative from Berwyn, IL.
For more information, please see the PrEParate campaign website at preparate.info, where you may find both our PrEP and Monkeypox video series, as well as information on recent and upcoming events.
Pedro Alonso Serrano, MPH, CPH, is a Public Health Professional with the Department of Research at the CORE Center of Cook County Health, and an Adjunct Lecturer within the Division of Public Health Practice in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. His research interests include minority health and health disparities and health promotion, with a focus on sexual and gender minorities in the United States, and his practice area is in conducting community-engaged collaborative research between practitioners and scholars.
Our “Community Voice” section gives Cicero and Berwyn residents an opportunity to share their thoughts, experiences and opinions. Information is fact-checked for accuracy. To contribute a “Community Voice” article email info@ciceroindependiente.com.
Want to read more stories like this? Consider making a donation to support our work. Your money goes directly towards paying journalists of color to report on local news.
SUBSCRIBE
Bringing you news from the 60804
We respect your privacy and will only use your information to send you our latest posts.