Guidelines for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Monkeypox in Korea
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, Nam Hee Ryoo, Hyun Soo Kim, Heungsup Sung, Cheon‐Kwon Yoo, the Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
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.