Zika virus RNA excretion in sweat with concomitant detection in other body fluid specimens.
Armando Menezes-NetoMarcia da Costa CastilhoGuilherme Amaral CalvetEdna Oliveira KaraCamila Helena Aguiar Bôtto-MenezesMarcus Vinícius Guimarães LacerdaGerson Fernando Mendes PereiraSilvana Pereira GiozzaXimena Pamela Diaz BermudezNoemia Santana LimaKayvon ModjarradNathalie BroutetAna Maria Bispo de FilippisRafael Freitas de Oliveira Francanull nullPublished in: Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (2021)
We evaluated sweat, blood and urine specimens obtained from an ongoing cohort study in Brazil. Samples were collected at pre-established intervals after the initial rash presentation and tested for Zika virus (ZIKV) RNA presence by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). From 254 participants with confirmed infection, ZIKV RNA was detected in the sweat of 46 individuals (18.1%). Sweat presented a median cycle threshold (Ct) of 34.74 [interquartile range (IQR) 33.44-36.04], comparable to plasma (Ct 35.96 - IQR 33.29-36.69) and higher than urine (Ct 30.78 - IQR 28.72-33.22). Concomitant detection with other specimens was observed in 33 (72%) of 46 participants who had a positive result in sweat. These findings represent an unusual and not yet investigated virus shedding through eccrine glands.