An unidentified 36-year old Italian gay male has been diagnosed recently with monkeypox, HIV, and Coronavirus all at the same time. According to the U.K. Independent, the patient sought care after complaining of a sore throat, fatigue, and a fever nine days after returning from a trip to Spain where he engaged in unprotected sex.

The man was also diagnosed with an enlarged liver, spleen and lymph nodes. The gay man’s case was also the subject of a recent study published in the Journal of Infection where researchers also noted he was treated for syphilis three years ago. Scientists also warned in their manuscript:

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.

Though researchers did note this is the first recorded case of someone co-infected with all three diseases, they said there is not enough proof that the illness combination could worsen the patient’s condition.

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged gay men to temporarily reduce their sexual activity due to the rising cases of monkeypox worldwide.

It should be noted that since the media reported that gay men were the ones cited as having experienced the most amounts of monkeypox infection, that hardly ever comes up in the news much less a topic of conversation among media talk shows. This news story of the co-infected Italian gay man is the first to get press coverage in quite sometime.

That is a disservice, not only to gay men, but to the public at large since, as recent findings reveal that black and Hispanic people are at risk, anyone can contract monkeypox. But because of the scare of it being labeled another gay disease like HIV or AIDS was, no doubt monkeypox has now been sent down the rabbit hole putting even more people at risk.

Regardless if you are gay or not, if you’re at risk for infection, there is a vaccine available for monkeypox in your area. Please consider getting inoculated.

PHOTO CREDIT: A clinical presentation of monkeypox – By CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63385319