The pandemic caused by the coronavirus spreading and infecting people all over the world, taking millions of lives, finally seems to be slowing down after countries applied strict measures and vaccines proved to be quite effective. It seems we will finally have a normal summer, as carefree as we remember it being before the world shut down in 2020.
It’s an illusion. We may not take a break. Now we are dealing with several monkeypox outbreaks and the concern is growing as well as the cases. While scientists are reassuring people that this virus is not nearly as dangerous as the coronavirus, the unknown is frightening.
To spread awareness about the disease, how it spreads and what symptoms it has, actor, writer and singer Matt Ford went on social media to share his experience of what it was like for him to have monkeypox.
More info: TikTok
Matt Ford contracted monkeypox and went to the internet to share what it is on paper and in reality
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Matt Ford is a creative person who tries his abilities in different fields; that is why, on top of acting, writing and singing, he is also a producer and an editor, former employee at BuzzFeed Video. He lives between Los Angeles and New York and is active on social media.
He is currently recovering from monkeypox and wanted to share what his experience was to warn other people and let them know what to expect. Matt starts by explaining that monkeypox isn’t a new virus humanity just discovered.
Monkeypox was a disease that was only observed in Africa, but recently there were quite a few outbreaks in Europe and it is spreading to other continents as well
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Monkeypox was first identified as a disease way back in 1958 when it spread among monkeys kept for research in Denmark. The origins of the disease aren’t actually known, so it was called monkeypox as monkeys were the first animals the researchers found to have it.
The first time a human contracted the virus was in 1970 and it was considered a rare disease, as it only spread in Africa. If it was reported outside Africa, in most cases, people had traveled there before or had contact with imported animals.
Matt himself is from the US and he is currently recovering from the disease
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Image credits: jmatthiasford
His symptoms included painful spots and flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and coughing
Image credits: jmatthiasford
However, it may become not such a rare disease after all, as we are witnessing several outbreaks. In May 2022, a cluster of cases were found in the United Kingdom. It was linked to a person who came back from Nigeria, where the disease is quite common. From there, the disease spread throughout Europe and has now reached other continents as well.
Matt is from the US himself and he was exposed to the virus there without having traveled to Africa or Europe. There are several ways he could have contracted the virus. According to WHO, “Human-to-human transmission can result from close contact with respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person or recently contaminated objects. Transmission via droplet respiratory particles usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact.”
They also mention that a mother could transmit it to her baby via placenta or during close contact during and after birth. It is actually not clear if monkeypox could be transmitted through sexual transmission routes.
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Some of the spots were so painful that Matt's doctor had to prescribe him painkillers so he would be able to sleep
Image credits: jmatthiasford
The incubation period can last between 5 to 21 days, so what symptoms do you have to look for that could indicate that you have monkeypox? Well, the most obvious one is the rash. Matt says he has over 25 of them and they are pretty gross.
Not only do they look hideous, they are painful as well. Matt had to go to his doctor to ask for painkillers because he couldn’t sleep as in some places, like the underwear area, the spots were unbearable.
Other symptoms include something similar you would experience if you had the flu: a sore throat, cough, fever chills, sweating, and swelling of the lymph nodes. WHO also mentions back pain, muscle aches and lack of energy.
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Another important thing to know is that the symptoms can last from 2 to 4 weeks, and medication alleviates symptoms, manages complications and prevents long-term consequences.
According to the CDC, “Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms, but milder; and monkeypox is rarely fatal.” WHO says that the monkeypox mortality rate in recent times was 3–6 percent and some smallpox variations have a mortality rate of 30 percent.
Matt understands that hearing a real person's experience is more useful, so he decided to share what he went through after his tweet about it went kind of viral
Image credits: jmatthiasford
Matt wanted to talk about his experience because he saw that his tweet about it kind of blew up and he suspected that people want to know personal experiences instead of the official information CDC and WHO provides.
He also wanted to encourage people to go get vaccinated. WHO reports that vaccines against monkeypox are 85 percent effective and it is even quite useful to get it even when you know you were already exposed to the virus.
He wants people to take action now and, if there are vaccines available, to get them
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Matt also wants people to note the ways monkeypox can be transmitted, because then you can make sure you keep yourself safe if you know someone might have it.
However, he would like people to be respectful and not shame anyone for contracting it because it seems that most cases are linked to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. We shouldn’t repeat history and stigmatize a disease, as it already happened in the 1980s with AIDS.
Because even if monkeypox is described as a mild disease, he know of people who had some severe cases
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
Image credits: JMatthiasFord
WHO is observing the situation and issuing recommendations accordingly, investigating the cases, and monitoring variations. They consider the risk at global level as moderate, but in Europe it is considered to be high as it is quite geographically widespread. Their advice is to be alert and contain local spread to prevent another pandemic from happening.
Hopefully, the experience countries gained during the pandemic of managing a spreading virus will come in handy and monkeypox will be stopped, but people talking about it anmd sharing their experience is nonetheless important.
You can watch Matt's TikTok video talking about his experience below
Have you heard about the monkeypox outbreaks? Do you think that virus outbreaks will become more common in the future? Do you think countries will be capable of preventing it from spreading to a pandemic level? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!