Silver Steele, of Houston, Texas, USA, said his symptoms started appearing on July 11 and then grew into red blisters, some of which scabbed over and healed.
A gay porn star is embarking on a public education campaign against monkeypox, using pictures of his symptoms.
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According to him, his decision to share his experience and not hide his symptoms, as others do, was not to scare people, but simply for public education.
“I'm just asking everyone to be a little compassionate and to understand that if its hard to look out, imagine what it's like to have.”
“Not everyone displays symptoms the exact same way, but I’ve been told by more than one professional that my case is a ‘clinically perfect’ example,” he said on Instagram on August 4.
After sharing his experience with the virus on social media, Steele’s condition deteriorated even more.
“My lymph nodes were swollen, it was hurting to swallow and I was just having trouble moving,” he recounted.
He visited a doctor and was told that he had monkeypox, after which other symptoms such as a fever, chills, and night sweats started emerging.
Within 48 hours, his lesions began to hurt as the flu-like symptoms reduced.
He, however, developed more lesions on his gums, throat, legs, and hands, which he said: “hurt most when I ate.”
Steele said to the Insider: “There were times when I was literally just sitting there watching TV and all of a sudden it's just like knives stabbing you. The pain was pretty intense.”
Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as the variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal. Monkeypox is not related to chickenpox.
Dr. Emmanuel Addipa-Adapoe, a member of the COVID-19 management team at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, has indicated that a vast majority of cases of monkeypox are among men who have intercourse with the same sex, triggering a hoax demonizing the LGBTQ community.
He said over 90% of recovered cases of monkeypox in the world especially in Europe, and other places are members of the LGBTQ.
Speaking on GTV, Dr. Emmanuel said "Now, hitherto, we thought it was just transmitted to humans from animals, and man to man by direct contact through the respiratory droplets and then through contact with the body fluids of those animals or man.
"Now over 90% of the cases, especially in Europe, the Americas, and other places, unfortunately, members of the LGBTQ+ fraternity are the ones who are getting the infection, and therefore we have had to revise our books to include sexual transmission. The majority of those with Monkeypox right now are men having sex with men."
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a few monkeypox cases in the outbreak were reported in health clinics located in the LGBTQ communities.
The WHO said that anyone who has close contact with someone who is infected with monkeypox is at risk.
"It is important to note that the risk of monkeypox is not limited to men who have sex with men. Anyone who has close contact with someone who is infectious is at risk," the WHO stated.