The first case of a person being simultaneously infected with coronavirus, HIV, and monkeypox has been reported after a man returned from a five-day holiday in Spain and sought initial treatment for a sore throat.
The patient, an Italian male, developed a series of symptoms — including fatigue, fever, and a sore throat — nine days after returning from his vacation where he engaged in unprotected sex, the UK Independent reports.
According to researchers from the University of Catania in Italy, the 36-year-old man, who has not been identified, also showed a modest enlargement of the liver and spleen and painful enlargement of the lymph nodes.
The man was reportedly vaccinated for coronavirus with two doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine.
The scientists stated their observations in the Journal of Infection, adding that on admission the patient reported being treated for syphilis in 2019. The following warning was added in their report:
Our case emphasises that sexual intercourse could be the predominant way of transmission. Therefore, complete STI screening is recommended after a diagnosis of monkeypox. In fact, our patient tested positive for HIV-1 and, given his preserved CD4 count, we could assume that the infection was relatively recent.
The researchers stated this is the only reported case of monkeypox virus, coronavirus and HIV co-infection, and added there is still not enough evidence supporting the conclusion this combination may aggravate the patient’s condition.
There are 632.4 million people living with the three viruses individually.
The case of the infected Italian holidaymaker comes after the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) confirmed last week a dog has been infected with monkeypox through human contact, as Breitbart News reported.
Commenting on the first human-to-dog transmission of the virus, Dr Rosamund Lewis, technical lead on the monkeypox response team at the W.H.O., said the case should be heeded as a warning to others.
“This is the first case reported of human-to-animal transmission. This has not been reported before, and we believe it is the first instance of a canine being infected,” Lewis outlined.
News of the infection attracted fresh attention after a report from France, published last week in the medical journal Lancet, about an Italian greyhound that caught the virus while living with two gay owners in Paris.
The dog belongs to a couple who said they share a bed with the family pet, AP reports.
Gay and bisexual men at risk of catching monkeypox have also been told to reduce their number of sexual partners “for the moment” by World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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