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US man infected With Covid, monkeypox at the same time: Report
The monkeypox virus spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions. WHO officials said on Saturday they were exploring the possibility of the virus spreading via new modes of transmission.
A man in the United States has been reportedly infected with both Covid and monkeypox at the same time in the first known case. Mitcho Thompson, a resident of California, tested positive for the coronavirus virus in late June, the reports said. Days later, he noticed red lesions across his back, legs, arms and neck, which were later diagnosed as monkeypox by the doctors.
“The doctor was very certain that I have monkeypox and that I had both,” Thompson told American broadcast network NBC on his double whammy. The twin viruses left the patient feeling as if he had ‘a severe case of influenza’. He also had a fever, laboured breathing, chills, body aches and skin lesions as per the reports.
The World Health Organization on Saturday sounded its highest level of alert for the monkeypox outbreak, labelling it: ‘public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)’. The United States, where the number of monkeypox infections is expected to surge in the coming weeks, has so far reported more than 2,400 cases of monkeypox. On Friday, the US identified its first two monkeypox cases in children.
The monkeypox virus spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions. WHO officials said on Saturday they were exploring the possibility of the virus spreading via new modes of transmission.
The US is also reeling under the uptick in Covid cases, believed to be caused by the BA.5 strain. As per a report by news agency Bloomberg, the US logged over 1.7 lakh new infections on July 19, up from roughly 27,000 new cases on April 1. The hospitalisation rate has been inching up since April as well, though still well below previous peaks.
As per the experts, BA.5 is particularly good at dodging immune defences, so even some people who were infected just weeks earlier with another version may catch Covid again.
