Contact Transmission of Vaccinia to an Infant Diagnosed by Viral Culture and Metagenomic Sequencing

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Mar 28;7(4):ofaa111. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa111. eCollection 2020 Apr.

Abstract

Targeted molecular diagnostic tests and accurate immunoassays have transformed the landscape of clinical virology, calling into question the usefulness of traditional viral culture. Here we present a case where viral culture, followed by metagenomic sequencing, was central to the diagnosis of an unexpected viral infection, with significant clinical and public health implications.

Keywords: metagenomic sequencing; poxvirus; vaccine-transmitted; vaccinia; viral culture.