Latinos currently make up 37% of the 1,310 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the state of California, While this number appears to be proportionate with the overall percentage of Latino-identifying individuals in the state — which the 2021 census estimated to be 40.2% — not every community in California is being affected equally. In hard-hit San Francisco, Latinos comprise close to 27% of cases while making up only 15% of the county. Meanwhile in L.A. County, Latinos have a lower case count than their population share would suggest.
In an op-ed for the LA Times Jeffrey Reynoso and Seciah Aquino from the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California assert that there could be an undercount of monkeypox cases among Latinos in L.A., as had happened with COVID-19 cases and deaths. They argue that Latinos are emerging as a high-risk group for monkeypox, and that the state needs to address the threat monkeypox poses to the Latino community. Joining guest host Sharon McNary today to discuss what California can do to help the Latino community is Dr. Seciah Aquino, Deputy Director at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and one of the authors of the LA Times op-ed and Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Chief Health Correspondent and Medical Affairs Officer at AltaMed.
