Italian man gets Covid-19, monkeypox, HIV all at once after unprotected sex with men

The 36-year-old Italian man, whose identity is not known, had spent five days in Spain from June 16 to June 20. He admitted to have had unprotected sex with multiple men during his stay there, the report said, citing a case study in the Journal of Infection.

After several days of his return, on July 2, he tested positive for Covid-19. On the same day, he started developing a rash on his left arm.

The next day, he noticed a small cyst like boils, surrounded by rash, appear on his torso, glutes, lower limbs and face.

By July 5, these cysts had spread all over his body and developed into small bumps.

He then went to San Marco University Hospital in Italy’s Catania, where the doctors admitted him to the infectious diseases ward.

Doctors conducted multiple tests to determine his illness and the results returned positive for monkeypox as well as HIV-1.

Eventually, he recovered from Covid-19 and monkeypox and was released on July 11.

The doctors asked him to isolate at home as his skin lesions were still healing.

“The case highlights how monkeypox and Covid-19 symptoms may overlap, and corroborates how, in the case of co-infection, anamnestic collection and sexual habits are crucial to perform the correct diagnosis,” the Mail Online quoted a report by researchers from the University of Catania.

“To note, the monkeypox oropharyngeal swab was still positive after 20 days, suggesting that these individuals may still be contagious for several days after clinical remission,” the report said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Monkeypox a global public health emergency with more than a dozen countries reporting nearly 32,000 cases.