Monkeypox DNA correlates with virus infectivity in clinical samples

Paran, N.; Yahalom-Ronen, Y.; Shifman, O.; Lazar, S.; Ben-Ami, R.; Yakubovsky, M.; Levy, I.; Wieder Feinsod, A.; Amit, S.; Katzir, M.; Carmi Oren, N.; Levcovich, A.; Hershman-Sarafov, M.; Paz, A.; Thomas, R.; Tamir, H.; Cherry-Mimran, L.; Erez, N.; Melamed, S.; Barlev-Gross, M.; Karmi, S.; Politi, B.; Achdout, H.; Weiss, S.; Levy, H.; Schuster, O.; Beth-Din, A.; Israely, T.

doi:10.1101/2022.08.02.502454

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.08.02.502454

Monkeypox DNA correlates with virus infectivity in clinical samples

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Abstract

In light of the alarming global spread of Monkeypox and the lack of data regarding virus infectivity in clinical specimens, we examined virus infectivity and its correlation with PCR results, the currently available diagnostic tool. Due to the high risk of Monkeypox virus infection, only a limited number of approved BSL-3 laboratories employed with vaccinated staff, including ourselves, are capable of determining Monkeypox virus infectivity. We show strong correlation between viral DNA content and virus infectivity in clinical specimens. Moreover, we define a PCR threshold value which correspond to non-infectious virus, and suggest that our data can be translated into informed decision-making regarding risk assessment, protective measures and guidelines for Monkeypox patients.

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Paran, N., Yahalom-Ronen, Y., Shifman, O., Lazar, S., Ben-Ami, R., Yakubovsky, M., Levy, I., Wieder Feinsod, A., Amit, S., Katzir, M., Carmi Oren, N., Levcovich, A., Hershman-Sarafov, M., Paz, A., Thomas, R., Tamir, H., Cherry-Mimran, L., Erez, N., Melamed, S., Barlev-Gross, M., Karmi, S., Politi, B., Achdout, H., Weiss, S., Levy, H., Schuster, O., Beth-Din, A., Israely, T.. 2022-08-03. Monkeypox DNA correlates with virus infectivity in clinical samples. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.02.502454

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