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Updated: Jun 28, 2025
Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
Breakthrough Mpox Outbreak Investigation, the Delicate Balance Between Host Immune Response and Viral Immune Escape
Marco Moretti1, Annelies Meuwissen1, Antonio M Rezende
1From the Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Universitair ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels.
Background:
Limited data are available on Mpox breakthrough infections.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to investigate a Mpox breakthrough outbreak in 3 vaccinated individuals.
Methods:
Study participants provided informed consent. Serology testing was performed in one involved individual (ID-1) using an in-house assay detecting anti-orthopoxvirus IgG. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was carried out and compared with the reference sequence ON563414.3 ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/ON563414.3/ ).
Results:
Three individuals vaccinated with modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavaria Nordic contracted Mpox following one sexual intercourse event. One of them (ID-1) had received only one vaccine dose, while the other two were fully vaccinated. ID-1 presented to the sexual health clinic of the Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel with proctitis related to Mpox. Despite one vaccination, serology testing Three months post vaccine showed absence of Mpox virus (MPXV) specific antibodies in ID-1. In contrast, 2 weeks after the sexual intercourse, seroconversion occurred. Whole genome sequencing of the isolated MPXV showed, compared with the reference sequence, a total of seven single nucleotide variants with four of them indicating protein amino-acid changes.
Conclusion:
Incomplete MPXV vaccination as well as MPXV variants might result in breakthrough infections. Preventive measures, such as MPVX vaccination, could maintain immunity in individuals with higher risk of MPXV infection, and might lower disease severity.
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