TY - JOUR
T1 - Retrospective detection of asymptomatic monkeypox virus infections among male sexual health clinic attendees in Belgium
AU - ITM Monkeypox Study Group
AU - De Baetselier, Irith
AU - Van Dijck, Christophe
AU - Kenyon, Chris
AU - Coppens, Jasmine
AU - Michiels, Johan
AU - de Block, Tessa
AU - Smet, Hilde
AU - Coppens, Sandra
AU - Vanroye, Fien
AU - Bugert, Joachim Jakob
AU - Girl, Philipp
AU - Zange, Sabine
AU - Liesenborghs, Laurens
AU - Brosius, Isabel
AU - van Griensven, Johan
AU - Selhorst, Philippe
AU - Florence, Eric
AU - Van den Bossche, Dorien
AU - Ariën, Kevin K
AU - Rezende, Antonio Mauro
AU - Vercauteren, Koen
AU - Van Esbroeck, Marjan
N1 - FTX; (CC BY 4.0)
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The magnitude of the 2022 multi-country monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak has surpassed any preceding outbreak. It is unclear whether asymptomatic or otherwise undiagnosed infections are fuelling this epidemic. In this study, we aimed to assess whether undiagnosed infections occurred among men attending a Belgian sexual health clinic in May 2022. We retrospectively screened 224 samples collected for gonorrhea and chlamydia testing using an MPXV PCR assay and identified MPXV-DNA-positive samples from four men. At the time of sampling, one man had a painful rash, and three men had reported no symptoms. Upon clinical examination 21-37 days later, these three men were free of clinical signs, and they reported not having experienced any symptoms. Serology confirmed MPXV exposure in all three men, and MPXV was cultured from two cases. These findings show that certain cases of monkeypox remain undiagnosed and suggest that testing and quarantining of individuals reporting symptoms may not suffice to contain the outbreak.
AB - The magnitude of the 2022 multi-country monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak has surpassed any preceding outbreak. It is unclear whether asymptomatic or otherwise undiagnosed infections are fuelling this epidemic. In this study, we aimed to assess whether undiagnosed infections occurred among men attending a Belgian sexual health clinic in May 2022. We retrospectively screened 224 samples collected for gonorrhea and chlamydia testing using an MPXV PCR assay and identified MPXV-DNA-positive samples from four men. At the time of sampling, one man had a painful rash, and three men had reported no symptoms. Upon clinical examination 21-37 days later, these three men were free of clinical signs, and they reported not having experienced any symptoms. Serology confirmed MPXV exposure in all three men, and MPXV was cultured from two cases. These findings show that certain cases of monkeypox remain undiagnosed and suggest that testing and quarantining of individuals reporting symptoms may not suffice to contain the outbreak.
KW - Belgium/epidemiology
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Monkeypox virus
KW - Monkeypox/diagnosis
KW - Retrospective Studies
KW - Sexual Health
U2 - 10.1038/s41591-022-02004-w
DO - 10.1038/s41591-022-02004-w
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
C2 - 35961373
SN - 1078-8956
VL - 28
SP - 2288
EP - 2292
JO - Nature Medicine
JF - Nature Medicine
IS - 11
M1 - 1081
ER -