Guidelines for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Monkeypox in Korea

Overview

Journal Ann Lab Med

Specialty Pathology

Date 2022 Oct 25

PMID 36281507

Authors

Ki Ho Hong

Gab Jung Kim

Kyoung Ho Roh

Hyukmin Lee

Ok Kyu Park

Taek Soo Kim

Jae-Seok Kim

Jaehyeon Lee

Moon-Woo Seong

So Yeon Kim

Jae-Sun Park

Younhee Park

Hee Jae Huh

Namhee Ryoo

Hyun Soo Kim

Heungsup Sung

Cheon Kwon Yoo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

While the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is ongoing, monkeypox has been rapidly spreading in non-endemic countries since May 2022. Accurate and rapid laboratory tests are essential for identifying and controlling monkeypox. Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency have proposed guidelines for diagnosing monkeypox in clinical laboratories in Korea. These guidelines cover the type of tests, selection of specimens, collection of specimens, diagnostic methods, interpretation of test results, and biosafety. Molecular tests are recommended as confirmatory tests. Skin lesion specimens are recommended for testing in the symptomatic stage, and the collection of both blood and oropharyngeal swabs is recommended in the presymptomatic or prodromal stage.

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