Monkey pox: “we started to see strange things”

Mysterious cases, possibly linked to monkey pox, have been taken care of by the Clinique l’Actuel in Montreal, founded by Dr. Réjean Thomas.

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The specialist in HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) admits: “This disease, no one knew regarding it 24 to 48 hours ago,” he explains in an interview on LCN.

“We started to see strange things. We thought of chancroid, which we still saw on occasion, but still quite rarely, and it looks a bit like,” explains Dr. Thomas.

However, he points out that the lesions caused by chancroid are mainly located in the genitals.

“In smallpox, there is a more systemic, more generalized attack”, he specifies, exposing a case which he follows closely which would carry all the symptoms of monkeypox.

“This morning we have a classic case, an individual from whom we are taking samples. It’s a man who had a sore throat, a lot of lymph nodes, who went to the emergency room at the weekend. We treated it like strep. Skin lesions then appeared. It’s a disease that looks suspiciously like another disease called chancroid, a bacterial infection that can be treated well. We thought that was what we were starting to have, ”explains the doctor.

The man finally came to see his family doctor, further tests are in progress. Monkeypox results are expected within 48 hours.

The disease is not easy to diagnose, and even misunderstood by Quebec doctors.

He invites them to be alert and to have patients tested for STBBIs, to carry out the appropriate biological investigations, and to refer them to the Current.

“It’s still a big panic in the community. […] It’s not very pretty. What do you say to a healthcare worker? What are the recommendations? I hope that public health will be able to answer us,” he concludes.