A man’s TikTok video in which he shares his experiences with moneypox go viral.
Matt Ford, who is openly gay, is a video maker and actor who lives in LA & NYC. He told Buzzfeed,
On Friday, June 17 … I received a call from a friend in LA who informed me that he had tested positive for monkeypox and that I might have been exposed the weekend prior via skin-to-skin contact.
Sure enough, I checked myself for spots and noticed a couple of lesions in the underwear zone.
This shit sucks and you don’t want it.”
He says he’s counted more than 25 lesions:
They’re really not cute.”
Monekypox has been around for decades but in May, outbreaks were identified in UK and other parts of Europe. It has since spread to the US, where there have been over 300 cases. In the UK, there have been over 1,000 confirmed cases.
It usually only affects people in central or western Africa but this outbreak has been affecting gay and bisexual men more.
Monkeypox is:
- mainly spread by direct skin contact between individuals
- has an incubation period of 1-2 weeks
- those affected usually develop sores, lesions and scabs that are infectious
- ca also cause coughing, fever, sore throat and other flu-like symptoms
- can also be spread through contaminated clothing and linen
I have monkeypox currently and this shit is absolutely no joke.
— Matt Ford (@JMatthiasFord) June 23, 2022
If you’re in New York and can get the vaccine, go do it.
Ford says he has some in more sensitive areas, which tend to be more painful and had to get painkillers from his doctor to help him sleep. His infection was confirmed when swab samples were sent to the the LA County Department of Public Health.
He said he was making a video because wanted people to know what it was actually like to have the virus and advised people to try and get vaccinated.
You do not want this shit. I cannot over-emphasize that.”
Last weekend, NYC’s health department issued a 1,000 doses of vaccine to high-risk groups (i.e. gay men), via a clinic in Chelsea. All the appointment slots were booked up within hours and men lined up around the block for walk-ins.
On Tuesday, the White House issued details of plans to roll out more vaccines across the US.
The administration said it plans to allocate 296,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine over the coming weeks. It is currently the only FDA-approved vaccine specifically for monkeypox.
It said in a statement,
56,000 of which will be allocated immediately. Over the coming months a combined 1.6 million additional doses will become available.”
Monkeypox is usually a mild, self-limiting illness, and most people will recover within weeks. However, the deadliest variant of the virus can be fatal for up to one in ten of those infected.
The form of the virus currently circulating is believed to be milder, with a fatality rate of less than 1 percent. Anyone who feels unwell and notices an unusual rash is advised to seek medical help.
@jmatthiasford sry the sound was too appropriate #monkeypox #monkeypoxvirus #monkeypoxoutbreak #monkeypoxvaccine #CDC #WHO #greenscreen #fyp #fypシ ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
(Photo, UK Health Security Agency, TikTok; via Queerty, Buzzfeed)
