Italian Man Becomes First Person Infected With HIV, Monkeypox, And COVID At The Same Time
It’s believed to be the first reported case of someone co-infected with all three viruses simultaneously, and it happened after the 36-year-old man had unprotected gay sex in Spain. Via BNO:
The patient, a 36-year-old Italian man, developed fever, a sore throat, fatigue, headache, and an inflammation of the groin area about 9 days after returning from a 5-day trip to Spain, during which he had sex with men without a condom.
The man tested positive for coronavirus 3 days after the symptoms appeared, according to a case report published in the Journal of Infection. The man also suffered from COVID-19 in January, which came just weeks after being vaccinated.
Within hours of testing positive for coronavirus, a rash appeared on his left arm, and blisters spread across his body during the next few days, which prompted him to go to the emergency room at a hospital in Catania, a city on Sicily’s east coast.
A series of tests taken in the hospital came back positive for monkeypox, COVID-19 and HIV. The HIV test showed a high viral load (234,000 copies/mL) and his preserved CD4 count, along with a negative test less than a year ago, indicates that he was recently infected.
The patient was released from hospital after nearly a week and recovered from COVID-19 and monkeypox, although a small scar remained.
“This case highlights how monkeypox and COVID-19 symptoms may overlap, and corroborates how in case of co-infection, anamnestic collection and sexual habits are crucial to perform the correct diagnosis,” the researchers, from the University of Catania, said in their case report.
