Monkeypox has fully arrived in the UK, with 1,076 cases having now been reported in the British Isles as of June 26 - 79% of which are in London.
Now, a new rapid 90-minute PCR test has been developed by a South Korean firm called Seegene, which will help with the detection and monitoring of the condition.
However, at the time of writing, such rapid tests are yet to be rolled out, and longer, lab-based testing is required.
The disease, which is mainly caught from infected rodents such as mice and rats, can according to the NHS be spread from person to person through “touching clothing, bedding or towels used by someone with the monkeypox rash".
The NHS also warns against “touching monkeypox skin blisters or scabs (including during sex)" and avoiding the "coughs or sneezes of a person with the monkeypox rash".
Risk in the UK remains low, and people are only encouraged to encourage a clinic if “you've been in close contact, including sexual contact, with someone who has or might have monkeypox (even if they've not been tested yet) in the past three weeks”, or “you've been to west or central Africa in the past three weeks”.
PCR tests do now exist for the condition, but a series of steps need to be taken before you are able to take one.
Unlike with Covid-19, which adopted an increasingly informal approach to testing that saw countless results never even reported, the relatively smaller scale of monkeypox means that tests are carried out through far more clinical and official processes.
A PCR for monkeypox in the UK will only be taken when certain criteria have been met and particular experts consulted.
Initially, cases must be brought to local infection clinicians such as infectious diseases, microbiology, virology or genitourinary medicine.
After said consultations have been had, samples will be taken from patients “who clearly meet the possible or probable case definition”.
In other cases, there may be a degree of uncertainty or urgency to the process. In this case these people will be seen by the local infection clinician, who in turn will discuss with the monkeypox clinical support line.
This is a 24-hour-a-day helpline and is for emergencies only. From here decisions about testing and next steps will be made.
How are PCR tests for monkeypox taken?
According to the government website, the following steps are taken when sampling for monkeypox.
Unlike how Covid tests swabs are taken, this time they are taken from an open sore suspected to be caused by monkeypox.
The gov website says: “Ensure that the sample is definitely taken from a vesicle, an ulcer or a crusted vesicle. Rub the swab over the lesion and place the swab in the viral culture tube or viral transport medium.”
The tests, which are done by medical professionals and not by the person who suspects they may have the condition, are then sent off.
For high-risk patients who have come into contact with confirmed cases but do not themselves have any symptoms, a throat swab is taken.
