Detection of Zika virus in Brazilian patients during the first five days of infection - urine versus plasma

Advantages of testing for Zika virus (ZIKV) in urine have been reported, such as the persistence of ZIKV in this type of specimen for up to 20 days after ZIKV disease onset. We investigate 61 patients in the first 5 days post-symptom onset and find more patients testing positive for ZIKV in plasma samples (n=46),than in corresponding urine samples (n=37). For patients respectively testing positive in both plasma and urine (n=28), respective viral loads appeared similar. Results of recent studies have suggested that after Zika virus (ZIKV) disease onset, the virus persists at higher levels and for a longer period in urine (up to ca 20 days) than in serum (up to ca 5 days) {[}1,2]. To provide further data, we tested for the presence of ZIKV in the urine and corresponding plasma specimens of 61 patients presenting symptoms of ZIKV disease in Brazil. The samples were collected between 1 and 5 days after symptom onset. During this phase of infection, the proportion of patients testing positive in plasma samples (46/61) appeared to be higher than those testing positive in urine samples (37/61). (AU)