First monkeypox patient from London to go public as a gay man was deported from Dubai after testing positive to HIV

 

35-year-old James M becomes first British monkeypox patient to go public. 

 

The first British monkeypox patient to go public is a London human resources manager who caught the virus after being deported from Dubai for testing positive for HIV, can reveal MailOnline.

35-year-old James M has claimed that health chiefs still haven’t contacted him despite suffering from monkeypox about a fortnight ago. He rebuked the UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA) for a genuine lack of any basic procedures or care to stop the spread of the tropical virus, which has so far infected more than 300 Britons, mostly gay and bisexual men. .

James – who wanted to keep his surname anonymous – admitted he is not following self-isolation rules because ‘I was told to stay at home until UKHSA contacted me… And he never did.’

He accused the UK of having a lackluster approach to contact tracing, saying it was ‘no surprise’ that the UK had more cases than any other country outside Africa. He claimed that there is also a lack of awareness about the lesser known symptoms of monkeypox.

James was adjusting to life in west London when he began to suffer from ‘strange pain’ in his lower back, exhaustion, extreme thirst and pain when using the toilet.

She was convinced she had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) after sleeping with about 10 new partners in the weeks before her symptoms began.

‘I’m a gay man, and just got back to the UK, I’ve had a good time,’ he told MailOnline.

But medics wrongly assumed it wasn’t monkeypox because he didn’t have the tell-tale rash of the virus.

Four years after a ‘shock’ HIV diagnosis in February, James had returned from Dubai, where being gay is illegal. It saw him lose his job and home.

After contacting his local STI clinic in west London, James was referred to a specialist center in Soho for testing on 25 May and asked to avoid public transport or close contact with others.

‘When I went to the clinic I was told to wait outside the main door and call them, they said they were going to put on PPE and they told me not to touch the door handle.’

‘The whole experience heightens your feeling, “oh this must be really serious”. I remember I went to the Covid centers and it was not that difficult or overwhelming.

At the time, several dozen people had already been diagnosed with the mystery monkeypox virus and it was clear that the virus was spreading among gay and bisexual men in London.

UKHSA claims it has tried several times to contact James. He admitted he was not following the rules of self-isolation because ‘I was told to stay at home until the UKHSA contacted me… and they never did’

But James claims he was assured by physicians that his symptoms could not be a rare disease because he did not have its hallmark sores, scabs, or spots.

On 28 May, three days later, a PCR test confirmed that he was indeed infected with monkeypox.

A letter sent by the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, seen by MailOnline, instructed him to ‘remain in isolation at home until further review from the team’ at the UKHSA.

Even though eight days have passed since the letter was issued, James has still not been contacted. He claims that he has called his local STI clinic every day since his diagnosis.

He told MailOnline: ‘It’s no surprise we’re getting so many more infections now if there’s no contact tracing or the awareness that there’s no need for a spot to tell people the virus.