Monkeypox virus culture from longitudinal samples from 7 patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Monkeypox virus culture from longitudinal samples from 7 patients to determine risk of onwards transmission
IRAS ID
317024
Contact name
Helen Callaby
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UKHSA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Infection with monkeypox virus in humans occurs through skin or mucous membrane contact with an infected animal or human’s skin lesions, body fluids and respiratory droplets. The aim of this research is to establish how long a patient with monkeypox is infectious for. There were 7 patients in the uk who had monkeypox and provided samples from various sites (the rash, blood, urine, throat swabs) during their illness for clinical monitoring. Monkeypox virus was detected on standard tests (PCR) for a long time and the patients were required to wait in a specialist unit in the hospital. Detecting the virus by PCR does not give a clear indication of whether that virus would actually infect another person, particularly late in the illness during the recovery phase.
We aim to establish whether a PCR-positive sample is infectious at various stages, using the PCR result level (the Ct value) to provide a “cut off”. We will do this by applying the samples to cells to see whether the cells become infected.REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/EE/0158
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion