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A man who recently recovered from monkeypox described the experience as “excruciating at times.” Matt Ford said he was prescribed narcotic painkillers to sleep at night as his tortuous lesions multiplied.
“The first ones that showed up got more painful, especially on more sensitive areas, and became excruciating at times. More kept appearing even as late as like ten days into the infection,” he told CBS News.
He said he first experienced flu-like symptoms before getting the lesions. But Ford said the pain and discomfort wasn’t even the worst of it. He was isolated from others for more than three weeks as he fought the virus.
“It was kind of strange for my mental health. I’m kind of having to reacclimate to being social,” he said. “It was an intense experience to go through.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are nearly 2,900 cases confirmed in 44 states. As cases rise, the Biden administration said it may follow the World Health Organization’s lead and declare a public health emergency.
Anxious Americans are lining up to get the monkeypox vaccine. As vaccine demand surges, frustration over a lack of appointments is fueling protests in cities like San Francisco.
New York City is the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with 1,040 confirmed cases, according to the city’s health department.
Anyone can get monkeypox, which is spread through close contact. But the disease is currently spreading primarily among men who have sex with men.
New York City health commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said the state is set to get 33,000 doses soon and the city will get more than 25,000 of those doses.
“We’re funding our monkeypox response based on our dollars here in the city. There isn’t federal money coming in for this response,” Vasan said.
The CDC said the vaccine is being made available for children through updated protocols after at least two cases in children were reported, one in California and one in Washington, D.C.
