A California man says he tested positive for COVID-19 and was diagnosed with monkeypox at the same time.
Mitcho Thompson of Sebastopol said shortly after he tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of June and was feeling wiped out, he noticed red lesions on his back, legs, arms and neck.
"The doctor was very certain that I have monkeypox and that I had both," Thompson said. "That was the question. Could I get them at the same time? And he said, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"
Thompson said the one-two punch of viruses led to weeks of misery. He said he felt like he had a horrible flu.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
"Really sick," he said. "And the worst of it was honestly where I just could barely get out of bed and you could barely even get a drink of water."
Dr. Dean Winslow, professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at Stanford, said while it is rare, it is possible for someone to get both monkeypox and COVID-19 at the same time.
"It's certainly not impossible for that to occur," he said. "It's just incredibly bad luck. They are very different viruses."
