[HTML][HTML] Zika virus in semen: a prospective cohort study of symptomatic travellers returning to Belgium

R Huits, B De Smet, KK Ariën… - Bulletin of the World …, 2017 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
R Huits, B De Smet, KK Ariën, M Van Esbroeck, E Bottieau, L Cnops
Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2017ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Objective To prospectively monitor Zika viral loads in semen from Belgian travellers with
confirmed Zika virus infection, who returned from the Americas during the 2016 Zika virus
epidemic. Methods We recruited symptomatic travellers consulting our clinic and we
confirmed infection with either reverse-transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
assay or virus neutralization test. The participants produced semen samples weekly, either
at the clinic or at home. For the initial sample, the laboratory staff did a microscopy analysis if …
Abstract
Objective
To prospectively monitor Zika viral loads in semen from Belgian travellers with confirmed Zika virus infection, who returned from the Americas during the 2016 Zika virus epidemic.
Methods
We recruited symptomatic travellers consulting our clinic and we confirmed infection with either reverse-transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay or virus neutralization test. The participants produced semen samples weekly, either at the clinic or at home. For the initial sample, the laboratory staff did a microscopy analysis if they received the sample within an hour of production. Using RT–PCR, we monitored Zika virus ribonucleic acid (RNA) loads in semen until we obtained two negative results.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov