Jeffrey Todd from California thought it was a pimple when he saw a strange bump on his cheek. However, after a few days, I started noticing a raised ring appearing around the bump. It sent some red flags.
"It looked very similar to the photo I saw on the CDC website," Todd told CBS News on Tuesday. That same night, Todd noticed a series of similar raised bumps on his arms and back. I started experiencingsymptoms.
The next day the doctor gave him a probable answer: monkeypox.
Monkeypox, a virus somewhat similar to smallpox, has been identified as a disease that can cause painful rashes and lesions for weeks in infected individuals. cases are spread from men who have had sex with men, but the disease can be spread through skin-to-skin contact or through contact with contaminated fabrics such as towels and bedding.
27} "They said it was mostly monkeypox just looking at the symptoms, but we won't know for the next two days," said Todd. "They advised me to isolate."Instead of seeing a doctor immediately after testing positive, Todd spent the next nine days in emotional distress. and dealing with a medical system that CBS News described as horribly underinformed. Todd said he was misdiagnosed "left and right" by doctors, including a staphylococcal infection to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Doctors treated him for these bacterial diseases, which caused an allergic reaction to one of the drugs he said.
Tested positive for monkeypox. Even after being told he was still struggling with treatment. Todd was told by his doctor that he had not received a timely prescription for TPOXX because his monkeypox test sample had been mishandled and was not tested.Experimental treatmentscan reduce healing time in monkeypox patients.
Todd said he was finally able to get his hands on the medicine. He believes this has made him feel better, but the experience is still difficult, he said.
"I felt really alone," he said. rice field. "People didn't have the right information and no one really knew what to do."
So Todd turned to his TikTok, a social media app. During his 28-day quarantine, he made countless videos documenting his symptoms and the progression of his lesions from bright red spots to dark black spots. These videoscontain disturbing or graphic imagery for some viewers and have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
The news comes on the heels of fresh reactions from national and international health officials about the epidemic of the disease. On July 23, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global emergency and called for the organization's highest levels of vigilance.
More than 9,000 monkeypox cases have been recorded in the United Statesand the White House has declared the disease a public health emergency. I declared. Health authorities and health care providers are now focused on vaccination efforts.
"Thankfully no one has died, so I would say we are still in this stage of the outbreak, which, while very serious, is no cause for widespread alarm." "We believe." Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID response coordinator, told CBS Morning last week. In terms of vaccines, we have significantly increased our acquisition of vaccines from abroad.”
Todd said he feels well now and plans to leave quarantine on Tuesday, but A California resident called the entire experience "emotionally distressing" and called for better information and faster response from medical and government officials.
"Biden Administration and Government I sincerely hope that senior officials will take this matter more seriously," Todd said. "It waited too long, paused too long, was indifferent."
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