Spring Lake monkeypox patient warns others: ‘You are on your own’
SPRING LAKE — As of Friday afternoon, three Cumberland County residents have gotten sick with monkeypox, county Health Director Jennifer Green said.
A man in Spring Lake said he is one of them. And he said he has been battered financially with $6,000 in emergency room medical bills plus lost wages from being out of work while he convalesced and isolated himself until he was no longer contagious.
The man contacted The Fayetteville Observer on Wednesday and said he wanted to let the public know the challenges he has faced with the illness, and that people need to prepare themselves for a health crisis such as this — especially people such as himself who live paycheck-to-paycheck.
The Fayetteville Observer agreed to the man's request that he not be identified by name due to the sensitive nature of the monkeypox disease.
“It doesn’t matter how many dollars, or whatever, they put into programs and stuff like that, if something happens to you, you’re on your own,” the man said. “And somebody’s going to tell you to go home, and you’re on your own.
“There is no funding, there is no help. There is no way for you to keep your job. You are on your own,” he said.
This man works as a security guard. He hasn’t lost his job — he returned to work this past week. However, he said he has no health insurance because he got sick before he worked at the company long enough to qualify for its health plan.
August 1: First case of monkeypox confirmed in Cumberland County
Monkeypox: What you need to know about about the disease
Monkeypox tests are free at the county Health Department
The man said that in late July when he first started feeling sick, he went for help at the emergency department in one of the hospitals operated by the Cape Fear Valley Health system. And that’s where he picked up the large medical bill, he said.
Cape Fear Valley Health has a financial assistance program to adjust the bills for patients who cannot afford to pay, Green said. Its website is https://www.capefearvalley.com/patients/financial-assistance.html.
She also suggested that if someone suspects they have monkeypox, but the symptoms seem manageable, they can avoid a medical expense by getting tested for it at the county Health Department instead of going to a doctor's office or emergency room. Call 910-433-3600 to schedule an appointment. However, Green said, people in severe medical crises should go to an emergency room for immediate treatment.
Monkeypox is a viral illness that causes rashes, sores and lesions on the skin. It’s spread in bodily fluids, including fluids from the lesions, the Centers for Disease Control says. This can be by direct skin-to-skin contact, the CDC says, and it can be from touching objects, fabrics and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
The virus may also be spread by respiratory secretions, the CDC says.
As of early July, Green said, researchers have found that 94% of the reported cases were in people who had sexual or close intimate contact with an infected man within three weeks prior to the onset of symptoms. So far, the disease has largely been among gay men, but it can be spread by anyone to anyone.
In North Carolina, there have been 122 cases statewide, according to a Health Department presentation conducted on Thursday. Among these, 59% were in people ages 30 to 49, and 70% were among Black men.
Is this article interesting or useful to you? Click here to subscribe now so we can continue to bring you the news you want and need.
He first noticed chills
The Spring Lake man said he doesn’t know how he got infected. He speculated that he may have gotten it from a comforter on a bed when he stayed at a hotel in Charlotte on the night of July 15.
Toward the end of July while at his job in Fayetteville, the man began feeling sick.
“I noticed I had chills,” he said. So he first went to an urgent care clinic, but then to the emergency room at the recommendation of the urgent care office, he said.
A doctor there suspected monkeypox, the patient said. And he later got tested at the county Health Department. It was confirmed on Aug. 1, the man said. That same day,Green announced that Cumberland County had its first case of the disease.
As the Spring Lake man’s sickness worsened, he had a fever and developed sores on his face around his lips, mouth and chin, he said, and a lymph node under his jaw ballooned. Pictures show the sores on his face, and they show his lips swelled to several times their normal size. Additional lesions appeared on his arm and hand.
While he waited to get better, he said, he stayed in his home where he lives with his two adult daughters.
The daughters plan to get vaccinated against monkeypox on Monday, he said.
Due to a limited supply, the Health Department says the vaccines have been limited to:
Anyone who has “been in close physical contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox in the last 14 days.”
Men or transgender individuals who in the previous 90 days:
Have had sex with multiple male sex partners or with anonymous partners.
Have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection.
Have been receiving medication to prevent HIV.
The vaccinations are provided to the patients at no charge, Green said.
People who share a household with a monkeypox patient may qualify to get vaccinated, she said. Health professionals will assess the risk of infection, such as coming into contact with the patient’s bodily fluids, or in contact with shared household furnishings, or being in close proximity for three hours without a face mask.
Meanwhile, the Spring Lake man hopes others can take a lesson from his experience.
“You are on your own, so just be careful. Be safe. Be ready,” he said.
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Spring Lake man among first in Cumberland County to get monkeypox
