When an Italian returned from Spain, for nine days he had a fever, a sore throat, a headache and an inflammation in the groin area, while also being tired. The 36-year-old had unprotected sex with men in Spain.
The man had tested positive for the corona virus three days after the symptoms appeared, as can be seen from an im Journal of Infection published case report. A rash appeared on his left arm just a few hours after the positive coronavirus test.
A few days later, blisters had spread all over his body and he had to go to the emergency department of a hospital in Catania, a city on the east coast of Sicily.
patient recovers
A series of tests made there gave an amazing result: the man had monkey poxCovid-19 and HIV at the same time.
His HIV test showed a high viral load, his CD4 count and a negative test less than a year ago suggest he was recently infected. The patient was discharged from the hospital after almost a week and has since recovered from Covid-19 and monkeypox. Only a small scar remained.
“This case shows how the symptoms of monkeypox and Covid-19 can overlap and confirms that in the case of co-infection, history taking and sexual habits are crucial for the correct diagnosis,” the researchers from the University of Catania say in their case report.
Positive after 20 days
“Of note, the monkeypox throat swab was still positive at 20 days, suggesting that these individuals may be contagious several days after clinical remission,” the report continues.
The researchers added: “As this is the only reported case of simultaneous infection with monkeypox virus, Sars-CoV-2 and HIV, there is not yet enough evidence that this combination can aggravate the patient’s condition. Given the current Sars -CoV-2 pandemic and the daily increase in monkeypox cases, however, health systems must be prepared for this possibility.”