let's switch gears. More than 6000 cases of monkeypox
have now been reported in 58 countries. The outbreak
is hitting the L. G. B. T
. Q. Community particularly hard although epidemiologists have stressed
that monkeypox can still transmit among other groups of people
. But how do you know if you have it
? What do you do if you get it?
Sometimes the best answers to these questions are from others
who have been through this and joining me now to
share his own experience with the virus is matt,
ford, actor and writer Matt first I want to
say thank you so much for sharing your story and
how are you doing? How are you feeling?
Thank you so much for having me and I'm glad
to report that. I am much better now.
I think I'm in the tail end of this and
you know, I'm just waiting for the last of
my skin to clear up and then I'll be good
to go. Are you still in isolation? I
am yes. three weeks today. Actually three weeks
today in isolation. How did you discover that you
contracted monkeypox? What were the first physical signs that
you noticed? So the first physical signs that I
noticed were lesions, you know, the telltale sign
of them. My situation was unique and that I
was notified from the get go that I've been exposed
. So I knew that's what it probably was.
You took to social media to give a monkey pox
P. S. A. Showing more than 25
lesions on your body. Were looking at that video
now, why did you feel the need to do
this? What do you hope people take away from
sharing your experience. So it was twofold one.
I wanted to warn people because at the time I
posted that new york pride was just around the corner
. And so I was afraid there could be a
really serious outbreak. And you know we're seeing rates
rise now. So I fear that might have been
the case anyway. Um I also wanted to speak
to any shame or stigma people might experience and getting
it because it it can be kind of a dark
and lonely place to have Your P. S.
A. Blew up with over 250,000 views. Did
you expect this kind of reaction map? I did
not have been surprised with the reach that it's had
. And pleasantly surprised that most of the reaction has
been positive. You are a writer along with along
with being an actor. Your most recent work was
a google dot called, So you got monkey pox
to ride self care tips and for people who may
have experienced the same thing, can you share some
of those tips with us matt? Yeah, absolutely
. I mean it's it's more in depth in the
document obviously. But the number one thing is if
you are having lesions and more sensitive areas, you
might want to consider speaking with your doctor about getting
painkillers because the pain can become pretty excruciating. You
know I want to clarify, I'm not a medical
professional, this is all anecdotal but that was my
experience. There were also some topical recommendations in there
that I personally found useful and of course getting vaccinated
as soon as possible if you can. You mentioned
the L. B. G. T. Q
. Community has been hit the hardest. Do you
think that's impacted the type of general response to monkey
pox? Not from the medical community per se.
You know? I don't think so. But in
terms of society and culture, you know I'm afraid
so that's always gonna unfortunately lend itself to some kind
of stigma from people who have certain biases or prejudices
or what have you. So that was a huge
part of me speaking out to try to curb that
and let people know this is not a gay disease
. Yes. It's primarily affecting queer men right now
. But anyone can get this. Did you have
to deal with any of that? I did unfortunately
. You know, most of the reaction was pretty
positive but there's always gonna be some cruel internet trolls
so that that was kind of a negative that I
just had to deal with. Or do you think
health officials and government officials are doing enough to fight
this? No, I do not. And it's
tough because you know it's easy to blame the CDC
or specific agencies but I think this is a deeper
systemic issue with the U. S. Public health
care system. Um you know, we're seeing huge
lags in testing. We're seeing a short supply of
the vaccine even though the vaccine has existed for a
long time and should have been stocked up in a
national stockpile. Uh We're hearing a lot of reports
of people just you know taking a long time for
them to be diagnosed and we knew this outbreak was
coming months ago. So there should have been more
preparation for people who might be watching, who may
be in your shoes right now are worried about contracting
monkeypox. What would you say to them? I
would say one you've done nothing wrong. This is
just the way the cards have fallen and so there
is no place for any shame or stigma. Try
to remember that. And the number one thing that
helped me when I was going through it was to
remember that this is a temporary condition. Yes,
it might be terrible, but in a few weeks
you will be past it and on the other side
. Well I want to say again, thank you
so much for sharing your story. This takes a
lot of bravery and we appreciate it. Matt ford
, actor and writer. Thank you for joining us