Utility of a Viral Vesicular Panel Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for the Diagnosis of Monkeypox, Herpes Simplex, and Varicella Zoster Viruses

Eli Wilber; Paulina A Rebolledo; Vyjayanti Kasinathan; Stephanie Merritt; Boghuma K Titanji; Bruce Aldred; Sheetal Kandiah; Susan M Ray; Anandi N Sheth; Jonathan A Colasanti; Yun F Wang

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad140

Utility of a Viral Vesicular Panel Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for the Diagnosis of Monkeypox, Herpes Simplex, and Varicella Zoster Viruses

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Mar 14;10(3):ofad140. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad140. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Eli Wilber¹, Paulina A Rebolledo^{1

2

3}, Vyjayanti Kasinathan⁴, Stephanie Merritt⁵, Boghuma K Titanji¹, Bruce Aldred¹, Sheetal Kandiah¹, Susan M Ray^{1

2

3}, Anandi N Sheth^{1

3}, Jonathan A Colasanti^{1

2

3}, Yun F Wang^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
² Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
³ Grady Healthcare System, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁵ Grady Memorial Hospital, Clinical Laboratory, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Abstract

Mpox (monkeypox) represents a diagnostic challenge due to varied clinical presentations and multiple mimics. A commercially available multiplex polymerase chain reaction panel accurately detects mpox virus as well as common mimics (herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus) in clinical specimens and could be used in routine clinical, surveillance, and outbreak settings.

Keywords: mpox; mpox diagnosis; multiplex PCR assay; vesicular panel.

Grants and funding

P30 AI050409/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States