Knowledge about mpox among American adults has declined over two years, along with fear of the disease, new survey results show. Knowledge of the disease in the US increased from July to August 2022, at which time 61% of Americans knew an mpox vaccine exists. Today, less than half (45%) know that a vaccine for mpox exists,
Findings come from the Annenberg Science and Public Health (ASAPH) knowledge survey, which shows that:
- Fewer than 1 in 5 people (17%) know that mpox is less contagious than Covid-19, down from 41% in August 2022. Nearly two-thirds (63%) are not sure.
- Only 1 in 20 Americans (5%) are worried about contracting mpox in the next three months, down from 21% in August 2022. In addition, fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) are worried that they or their families will contract mpox.
- Just a third of people (34%) know that men who have sex with men are at a higher risk of infection with mpox, down from nearly two-thirds (63%) in August 2022.
- Fewer people (58%) know that it’s false to say that getting a Covid-19 vaccine increases your chances of getting mpox, down from 71%.
A current outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) involves an mpox strain known as clade I, which is especially virulent and dangerous to infants and children under the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The current subtype appears to be spread through routine close contact between individuals, though in November 2023 the WHO confirmed that this strain was also being sexually transmitted. This deadlier strain of monkeypox has not been reported outside central and east Africa.
ASAPH survey data come from the twentieth wave of a nationally representative panel of 1,496 US adults, first empaneled in April 2021, conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center by SSRS, an independent market research company. This wave of the Annenberg Science and Public Health Knowledge (ASAPH) survey was fielded July 11-18, 2024, and has a margin of sampling error (MOE) of ± 3.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All figures are rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100.
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