Researchers from the University of Catania in Italy have reported that an Italian man who had returned from a brief trip to Spain tested positive for COVID-19, monkeypox, and HIV all at the same time.
The unnamed 36-year-old male experienced fever, sore throat, exhaustion, and headaches as a result of the co-infection, according to the researchers’ report in the Journal of Infection.
The symptoms apparently appeared nine days after the Italian man’s return from a five-day trip to Spain in June.
The patient took two doses of the COVID vaccine and was previously infected with the virus in January, but on July 2, he tested positive for COVID-19 and started to have a rash on his left arm.
The patient’s face, glutes, lower limbs, and torso all developed tiny, painful vesicles the next day.
On July 5, the vesicles kept spreading and turned into pustules, causing him to visit the emergency room at the University Hospital in Catania. From there, he was sent to the Infectious Diseases Unit.
The patient admitted to having “condomless intercourse with guys throughout his trip in Spain” and was later diagnosed with monkeypox at the hospital. Several STI tests also revealed positive results for HIV, leading the researchers to “believe that the infection was very recent.”
“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,” researchers said.
The man was discharged from the hospital on July 11 and isolated at home.
The researchers continued: “Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox virus co-infection, particularly in subjects with a recent history of travel to monkeypox-outbreak areas.”
“Our case emphasises that sexual intercourse could be the predominant way of transmission. Therefore, complete STI screening is recommended after a diagnosis of monkeypox,” their report read.
However, since this is the only reported case of monkeypox, COVID, and HIV altogether, there isn’t enough evidence to support that this “combination may aggravate [a] patient’s condition.”
“Given the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the daily increase of monkeypox cases, healthcare systems must be aware of this eventuality, promoting appropriate diagnostic tests in high-risk subjects, which are essential to containment as there is no widely available treatment or prophylaxis,” the researchers added.
Joshua is a multidisciplinary creative and tech enthusiast who seeks to create meaningful experiences that make for a better and more equal world. He is a creative entrepreneur and human rights activist whose work navigates socio-cultural discourse and how it can be used as a vehicle for change.
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