Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
J Prim Care Community Health. 2023 Jan-Dec;14:21501319231169991. doi: 10.1177/21501319231169991.
Mpox is a new public health outbreak that particularly threatens the homeless population. Street Medicine Phoenix (SMP) is a student-led interprofessional volunteer organization that provides medical care and other essential services to individuals experiencing homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to core services such as wound care; health screenings (blood pressure and blood glucose.); vision screenings; HIV testing; naloxone education and distribution; flu, COVID-19, and Hepatitis A vaccinations; and community resource referrals, SMP began offering mpox education and vaccination at outreach events. During an outreach event shortly after the onset of the mpox outbreak, SMP identified 2 suspected mpox cases. Accordingly, SMP has partnered with the Maricopa County Public Health Department to set up mobile mpox vaccination clinics on the streets outside of Phoenix Arizona's largest homeless shelter. We share the details of these 2 cases along with our early efforts vaccinating individuals experiencing homelessness for mpox via our mobile vaccination clinic. Our experiences demonstrate the importance of community agencies providing direct outreach to underserved populations where they are at, particularly the homeless population, to address public health concerns such as emerging disease outbreaks like mpox. In addition, these cases highlight the potential significant impact that street medicine programs can have on their respective homeless communities in the context of infectious disease mitigation and emphasize the importance of partnerships with local health departments.
猴痘是一种新的公共卫生疫情，特别威胁无家可归者群体。凤凰街医（SMP）是一个由学生领导的跨专业志愿者组织，为亚利桑那州凤凰城无家可归者提供医疗护理和其他基本服务。除了核心服务，如伤口护理；健康筛查（血压和血糖）；视力筛查；艾滋病毒检测；纳洛酮教育和分发；流感、COVID-19 和甲型肝炎疫苗接种；以及社区资源转介外，SMP还在外展活动中开始提供猴痘教育和疫苗接种。在猴痘疫情爆发后不久的一次外展活动中，SMP 发现了 2 例疑似猴痘病例。因此，SMP 已与马里科帕县公共卫生部合作，在亚利桑那州凤凰城最大的无家可归者收容所外的街头设立移动猴痘疫苗接种诊所。我们分享了这 2 例病例的详细信息，以及我们通过移动疫苗接种诊所为无家可归者接种猴痘疫苗的早期努力。我们的经验表明，社区机构向他们所在的服务不足人群，特别是无家可归者，提供直接外展服务以解决公共卫生问题，如新兴疾病爆发，如猴痘，非常重要。此外，这些病例突出了街头医疗计划在传染病缓解方面对各自无家可归社区可能产生的重大影响，并强调了与当地卫生部门建立伙伴关系的重要性。
