Monkeypox Diagnosis and Prevention

Monkeypox is primarily diagnosed by molecular testing using PCR. However, very recent research suggests that monkeypox infections can be asymptomatic, which indicates the potential need for wider testing and isolation policies among people exposed to the virus (https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.04.22277226). If screening expands to individuals exposed to active monkeypox cases, then testing may need to include molecular testing on blood specimens and serology-based immunoassays that can detect acute subclinical and asymptomatic infections. In previous monkeypox outbreaks, such as the one in 2003 in the United States, serologic assays provided significant diagnostic support. Monkeypox IgM capture assays were able to distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals with a sensitivity and specificity of 95% (https://doi.org/10.1128/CDLI.12.7.867-872.2005).