Scientists have reported the first known case of a person testing positive for
monkeypox,
Covid-19 and
HIV at the same time.
The patient, a 36-year-old Italian male, developed a series of symptoms — including fatigue, fever, and a sore throat — nine days after returning from a trip to
Spain, where he engaged in unprotected sex.
He first tested positive for Covid on 2 July, according to a case study report published in the Journal of Infection.
The following day small, painful vesicles surrounded a rash appeared on the man’s torso, lower limbs, face and glutes. By 5 July, the vesicles had further spread and evolved into pustules - small bumps on the skin - at which point the man took himself to a hospital in Palermo.
There, he was tested for monkeypox and subsequently returned a positive result.
The patient was also screened for multiple STIs. He tested positive for HIV-1, and the researchers said that “given his preserved CD4 count, we could assume that the infection was relatively recent.”
The patient had taken an HIV test in September of last year and returned a negative result.
After recovering from Covid-19 and monkeypox, the patient was discharged from hospital on 11 July to home isolation. By this stage, his skin lesions had healed, after crusting over, leaving a small scar.
www.independent.co.uk
