1.
J Infect Dis
; 222(2): 319-323, 2020 06 29.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32052024
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Persistence of Zika virus (ZIKV) ribonucleic acid (RNA) in semen is common after infection. METHODS: We designed a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay that targets antisense ZIKV RNA (asRNA) to assess ZIKV replication competence in ZIKV RNA-positive semen samples. RESULTS: We detected ZIKV asRNA in semen of 9 of 19 men (47.4%) diagnosed with ZIKV infection. All asRNA-positive samples had high ZIKV loads (cycle threshold values <26) and were obtained within 21 days of symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity of the asRNA assay for detection of ZIKV replication was higher than that of conventional virus isolation methods (47.4% vs 21.1%, P = .032).