A woman went viral for describing the lengths she went to — including calling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — to figure out whether or not she has monkeypox.
In a TikTok video with the name Halle, a woman said that she woke up Sunday with an “insane rash” on her forehead and chest.
When she went to an Urgent Care facility the next day, she was told she has methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, an infection caused by a bacterium. Wanting to confirm this diagnosis, she asked to be tested.
Halle said she was given an antibiotic and sent on her way after being told to see her primary care provider immediately.
Her doctor told her it was just a rash and gave her another antibiotic.
“In my mind, I know it’s not just a rash,” she says in the video. “I can tell something’s wrong.”
After little luck with two antibiotics she called Urgent Care back asking to get tested for monkeypox — and was told they don’t test for it.
She sought a third opinion from another doctor, who called in back up, and they both declared that they didn’t know what was wrong with her and sent her back to work.
She mentioned possibly having monkeypox and they told her, “What’s monkeypox?”
Forty-five minutes later Halle got a call telling her that the doctors think she has monkeypox and to go see a dermatologist.
However, the dermatologist told her, “We’re canceling your appointment. We’re not dealing with that.”
The office instructed her to call the CDC instead.
But the CDC only continued to make Halle play doctor-roulette.
“The CDC has no idea what they’re doing, nobody’s educated (not even doctors) and doctors will refuse to see you,” she said.
The TikTok was reposted on Twitter and now has over 35,000 retweets along with over 127,000 likes.
The comments section was flooded with confused people wondering why history was repeating itself.
“WHY is this happening AGAIN?? We just went through this exact same confusion with the pandemic. Why are health providers not informed & vigilant about potential monkeypox cases coming in? Why are we not pumping out the vaccine while we can? There’s already 2,000+ cases in the U.S.,” one person responded.
As of Monday, the CDC confirmed 1,972 cases of monkeypox in the country. And the CDC has been slammed before for its “lackluster job.”
Some even questioned how the health care system in the US is functioning.
“As a former admin you should know doctors completely blow off patients all the time and send them home saying ‘nothing is wrong with them’ and then end up being very wrong. also misdiagnose ppl all the time,” another person commented.
It is unclear if Halle has been tested and her last update stated, “my doctor just told me it’s confirmed state has my samples; waiting for their call.”