Mpox Virus in the Pharynx of Men Having Sex with Men: A Case Series limonta2024mpox
Case series of mpox patients diagnosed at an urban STD/STI center in Lombardy (Northern Italy) between May and August 2022. Skin lesion swabs and oropharyngeal (pharynx/throat) swabs were collected at baseline and then (for those enrolled after July 2022) followed weekly until negative. MPV DNA detection was performed using the RealStar Orthopoxvirus PCR Kit 1.0, reporting Ct values. Longitudinal follow-up data are available for 11 men who have sex with men (MSM).
Analytes
pharynx
Mpox virus DNA detected in oropharyngeal (pharynx/throat) swabs using RealStar Orthopoxvirus PCR Kit 1.0 (Altona Diagnostics); result recorded as PCR cycle threshold (Ct) when positive; negatives recorded as not detected.
Fitted by censored maximum likelihood. The red line is the median individual; the shaded region is the full range of a simulated cohort drawn from the fitted population, so it shows what simulating from this dataset would produce rather than a confidence interval, with dashed lines at the central 95%. Open triangles are non-detects, drawn at the censoring limit and entering the fit as "below this value" rather than being dropped. See the modelling methods for what these estimates do and do not support.
skin
Mpox virus DNA detected in skin lesion swabs using RealStar Orthopoxvirus PCR Kit 1.0 (Altona Diagnostics); result recorded as PCR cycle threshold (Ct) when positive; negatives recorded as not detected.
Fitted by censored maximum likelihood. The red line is the median individual; the shaded region is the full range of a simulated cohort drawn from the fitted population, so it shows what simulating from this dataset would produce rather than a confidence interval, with dashed lines at the central 95%. Open triangles are non-detects, drawn at the censoring limit and entering the fit as "below this value" rather than being dropped. See the modelling methods for what these estimates do and do not support.