I appreciate Dr. Sinha Dutta's article on Monkey Pox infection, especially its emphasis on vaccination--for both Monkey Pox and Small Pox.
       I would like to clarify two things--gay men are not especially susceptible to any disease, nor is any person a high-risk individual. The risk in all infectious diseases is not a person, but exposure to a pathogen, by whatever route that bacterium, fungus, virus or parasite is transmitted. The difference is not merely one of word choice, but of biologic concepts, I am sure Dr. Singa Dutta agrees.
      People are not diseases, or inclined to disease. Disease is the battle between the pathogen and patient. And a pathogen may be acquired by specific behaviors, like eating decayed food, handling certain species of animals, having sex with someone who is infected, etc. So behaviors certainly can be modified to prevent transmission of disease between people. And with vaccines, people can be immunized against infection, when and where transmission is difficult to avoid. But, fortunately, we are all born equally healthy! The goal is to teach people how to avoid pathogens, so we keep everyone healthy.