Detection of Zika virus in urine

Abstract

We describe the kinetics of Zika virus (ZIKV) detection in serum and urine samples of 6 patients. Urine samples were positive for ZIKV >10 days after onset of disease, which was a notably longer period than for serum samples. This finding supports the conclusion that urine samples are useful for diagnosis of ZIKV infections.

Figure

Detection of Zika virus in blood and urine specimens of 6 patients by using real-time reverse transcription PCR with primers/probe 1086/1162c/1107-Cy5 (11) New Caledonia, 2014. A) Patient 1; B) Patient 2; C) Patient 3; D) Patient 4; E) Patient 5; F) Patient 6. Triangles indicate urine samples and squares indicate serum samples. The cutoff cycle threshold (C_t) value is 38.5, as previously reported (11) and is indicated by blue horizontal lines. Black symbols indicate amplifications with C_t <38.5, gray symbols indicate amplifications with C_t ≥38.5, and white symbols indicate negative amplifications. Onset of disease (day 0) was defined retrospectively after questioning patients about initial symptoms. Dashed lines indicate a period >2 days without a sample being obtained. Arrows indicate onset of rash.