MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Number of monkeypox cases in Brazil crosses 200 threshold

A PCR test for monkeypox is rapidly becoming available in Brazil as the number of monkeypox cases goes up

Brazilian health authorities Monday confirmed there were 219 confirmed cases of monkeypox nationwide, with the bulk of them in São Paulo (158) and Rio de Janeiro (34), according to an Agência Brasil report.

The Federal Health Ministry issued a document mentioning 218 cases and Rio de Janeiro's Health Secretariat registered one more case at the State level.

Other States with a significant number of cases were Minas Gerais (14), Paraná (3), Rio Grande do Sul (3), Ceará (2), Rio Grande do Norte (2), Goiás (2) and Brasilia (1).

Meanwhile, private laboratories in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have started offering tests for the malady.

The disease has spread in the country after states have already registered cases of local transmission; that is, patients who contracted the disease in Brazil and had no recent travel history or even been in contact with someone who did.

In this scenario, Brazilian private laboratories have begun offering the test which up until last week was only available at public facilities.

In São Paulo, Fleury Medicina e Saúde started offering the test for monkeypox detection. According to infectologist Carolina Lázari, the company started developing a specific test for the disease when news of the outbreak in Europe broke. Detection is made through genetic sequencing of the virus. The idea is, however, that in the coming weeks an RT-PCR test will be available, similar to the one already in use for COVID-19.

“We chose to do the sequencing because as it is a new virus in the country, this allowed us to put the test on the market faster and gives us a more detailed result in the first samples than the PCR. But we are already working on PCR, in case we need to increase the processing scale,” Lázari explained.

The material is collected with a swab, as in Covid-19. The difference is that instead of the sample being taken from the nose or throat, it is taken from the skin or mucous lesions, with the appearance of vesicles, ulcers, or crusts. The deadline for the result to be issued is 5 working days. A doctor's order is required for the exam.

The Lach Laboratory and Clinic in Rio de Janeiro already offers the RT-PCR exam. According to Barbara Pereira, a biomedical specialist and director of Lach, the material can be collected from blood, saliva, or wounds. The result of the exam is ready between two and ten days, depending on the type of collection, which can be performed at the laboratory or at the patient's home. There is no need for a doctor's order. The testing material is imported following a partnership agreement between Lach and a German laboratory.

Richet Medicina & Diagnostico have announced they will have their own PCR test kits for monkeypox. Pathologist Helio Magarinos Torres Filho, Richet's director, explains that this is an imported test. The sample is taken directly from the lesions and the result takes two to five days. As in Fleury, a doctor's order is required for the exam.

The tests are available for between R$ 330 (US$ 61.35) and R$ 500 (US$ 93). It is yet to be determined whether medical insurance plans will cover these tests.

Monkeypox is a compulsorily notifiable disease, which means that after a positive test, laboratories need to notify the health monitoring agency and send the sample for confirmation by a government reference laboratory. The counter-testing is a standard requirement of the Ministry of Health and has also occurred with Covid-19.

After a certain number of correct tests, laboratories are credited to perform the tests without the need for confirmation.