TEXAS, USA — Texas now has 110 confirmed cases of monkeypox.
"It's a living hell is the most traumatic experience I've ever had. It's the worst sick I've ever been," said Luke S.
He has monkeypox, not confirmed through a blood test, but by his doctor.
Luke said he went to a Dallas concert earlier this month, which could have been where he got the illness.
“I had started getting sick about July 5 … I had gotten really bad, extreme anxiety and feeling like a train hit me. Then, the following day, I started running a fever of 101," he said.
Days later, Dallas County Health called him to let him know he might have been exposed. His symptoms worsened afterward.
"Extreme fatigue, the constant pounding headache that does not stop the back pain."
Monkeypox spreads through close contact.
On July 7, the signature sores showed up, alongside excruciating pain.
"It literally feels like someone’s taking a potato peeler to your skin," he said.
Luke says he got the first dose of the monkeypox vaccine.
Since then, the sores have improved.
“It took about six days for them to actually fill all the way up and pop. As soon as they had popped about two days after, it was immediate relief," said Luke.
Most of the cases in Texas have spread among men who have sex with men.
Luke says a handful of his friends now have the virus and he sys one is in the hospital.
He says several friends are desperate to get vaccinated, and many are frustrated that they don't qualify.
Some cities and states have expanded eligibility for the vaccine.
But the Texas Department of State Health Services, which distributes vaccine to counties, said it is following current CDC recommendations.
Those recommendations call for post-exposure vaccination of people exposed to monkeypox and pre-exposure vaccination of people at high-risk of exposure, such as lab workers working directly with the virus
"I mean, you can get the flu shot at any time and it's to prevent us from getting sick, or you can go get a meningitis shot to help prevent getting from sick. Why why is there a restriction on this that's been approved?" Luke asked. "Why can't we just have this vaccine?"
“Be mindful. This isn’t a gay thing. This isn’t a straight thing. It’s gonna affect everyone if you’re not careful," he said.
How does monkeypox spread?
- The disease appears to be spreading largely via direct contact with the skin or saliva of an infected person.
- Monkeypox can spread from person to person through direct contact with the rash, scabs or bodily fluids like saliva.
- It can also be transmitted with prolonged face-to-face contact via respiratory droplets.
- Pregnant women can transmit the virus to their fetus through the placenta.
- At this time, it's not known if monkeypox can spread through semen or vaginal fluids.
Symptoms of monkeypox:
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Chills
- Exhaustion
- Rash that looks like pimples or blisters; the rash often appears first on the face and/or inside the mouth and then on other parts of the body.