The study, carried out with more than 140 samples, seeks to understand the transmission dynamics of this disease.
Viral DNA can frequently be detected in different clinical samples from monkeypox-infected patients, such as saliva and semen. Photo: Shutterstock.
Since the first case in the current outbreak of the monkey pox that started six months ago; for the moment the World Health Organization registers 9,200 confirmed cases in 63 countries, with an incidence increase of more than 50%, what has alerted specialists is the way in which it has crossed borders, reaching countries where this disease is not endemic, such as Puerto Rico, where There are already 4 confirmed cases and epidemiological surveillance is being carried out.
The first cases arose in Great Britain, Portugal and Spain, with the common denominator that those infected were men who had sex with other men, but this disease has managed to spread to different countries, and with the warning that it may affect those vulnerable groups of the population. population whether they are immunosuppressed people or children.
One of the mechanisms of transmission It is by direct contact with the patient’s lesions, or contact with surfaces contaminated by them. It is still unknown if there is a possibility that the virus has a presence in other secretions such as urinesaliva o semen.
In this study led by Mikel Martínez, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, and Dr. José Luis Blanco, from the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, the presence of this virus was sought in the biological samples of 12 confirmed patients, in search of DNA of virus in the lesions, which were initially confirmed to have a high viral load.
Viral DNA had already been detected in saliva and semenit is hoped to understand more regarding how this emerging disease is transmitted.
“A couple of previous studies had already shown the occasional presence of viral DNA in some samples and in some patients, but in this study we show the frequent presence of viral DNA in various biological fluids, particularly in saliva, during the acute phase of the disease, and up to 16 days following the onset of symptoms in one patient”, explains Aida Peiró, ISGlobal researcher and first author of this study.
DNA was found Monkeypox, in the saliva of all patients, some of them with high viral loads; but DNA was also detected in samples:
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Rectal, in 11 of 12 patients;
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Nasopharyngeal, 10 of 12 patients;
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Semen in 7 of 12 patients;
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Urine9 of 12 patients;
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Fecal in 8 of 12 patients.
The presence of viral DNA in these samples is not necessarily equivalent to the presence of infectious virus, so the next step will be to isolate the virus from these samples; however, the high load detected in saliva or semen suggests that these fluids have infectious potential, they add.
“The results of our study contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics of the transmission of the virus, as well as the possible role of transmission sexually”, concludes Martínez.
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