Mpox Comprehensive Assessment for Responsive Immunisation in Emergency Outbreaks (MPOX CARE)

March 19, 2025 updated by: University of Birmingham
The MPXV CARE study principally aims to use clinical and epidemiology data to target specific individuals willing and able to provide appropriate and proportionate biological samples to develop novel immune diagnostics that support models of disease burden and future vaccine utilisation.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Cases of Mpox in Central and East Africa have been climbing since December 2022 when Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared a national outbreak of the disease. There are two strains of circulating virus, clade Ia (previously known as clade I) in northwestern DRC primarily affecting children, and a new strain clade Ib in northeastern DRC which has since spread to bordering countries. The clade Ib strain, sub-lineage A was first identified in South Kivu. This strain has been found to have a APOBEC3-type mutations allowing increased circulation between humans. This novel clade is mainly characterized by the gene insertions and deletions including the deletion on C3L gene that effect the CDC recommended Clade I-specific real-time PCR detection. The WHO Director General declared the outbreak a public health emergency on 14th August 202433 as a result of escalating case numbers of both clade I strains. As of 28July 2024, this year there have been a total of 14,250 cases in 10 African countries, with a case fatality of 3.2%. This is likely to be an underestimate given the limited testing and healthcare capacity in some of the regions affected. The clade 1b Mpox outbreak is an urgent public health emergency in need of scientific countermeasures to control the spread of disease and protect African communities.

The primary clinical aim of this study to develop novel immune diagnostics to estimate Mpox's sero-prevalence and determine exposure to Mpox virus and/or previous vaccination as a tool for vaccine prioritization among at risk populations.

Participants will be recruited from the following groups:

  • Group 1 (suspected exposure cohort): asymptomatic volunteers at risk of Mpox including:

    • Those who live within or adjacent to, or spend prolonged amounts of time in an epidemiologically identified region of Mpox transmission
    • Close contacts of those with microbiologically confirmed Mpox
  • Group 2 (post-exposure/vaccinated cohort):

    • asymptomatic volunteers who have had clinically or microbiologically confirmed Mpox infection within the last one-month (group 2a) or more than one-month ago (group 2b)
    • Those who have received a smallpox/MVA vaccine within the last one-month (group 2c) or more than one-month ago (group 2d)
  • Group 3 (control cohort): asymptomatic volunteers with no known exposure to Mpox

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

650

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy males and females aged between ages 5-80 years, who are able and willing to provide informed consent and will comply with the study requirements.
  • Group 1 (suspected exposure cohort) only

    • Live within or adjacent to an epidemiologically identified region of Mpox transmission
    • Close contacts of those with microbiologically confirmed Mpox
  • Group 2 (post-exposure/vaccinated cohort) only

    • Previous clinically or microbiologically confirmed Mpox or confirmed previous vaccination with a smallpox/MVA vaccine
    • Fully recovered from Mpox infection
  • Group 3 (control cohort) only:

    • Asymptomatic with no known exposure to Mpox

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unwilling or unable to provide informed consent to take part
  • Unwilling or unable to comply with study procedures
  • History of any suspected or confirmed disorder of the immune system that, in the opinion of the investigators, might impair the results of the study
  • Have a bleeding disorder deemed significant by a member of the study team
  • Pregnant or breast-feeding females
  • Group 1 (suspected exposure cohort) only

    • Known history of Mpox infection
    • Current symptoms consistent with Mpox
    • Known exposure to Mpox in the last month
  • Group 2 (post-exposure/vaccinated cohort) only

    • Participants with any ongoing symptoms of Mpox, indicating incomplete recovery.
  • Group 3 (control cohort only)

    • Symptoms of Mpox
    • Known exposure to Mpox in the last month

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: All participants
All participants will receive the same interventions.
Mpox-specific antibody ELISA
Dried blood spot lateral flow assay for Mpox antibody

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Detection of anti-Mpox specific IgG antibody by ELISA
Time Frame: Day 1
Number of patients in whom anti-Mpox specific IgG antibody is detected
Day 1
The clinical diagnostic performance of the RDT for Mpox exposure confirmation
Time Frame: Day 1
A blood sample will be tested on the lateral flow device which will give a positive/negative result for the presence of antibody. This will be compared to the gold standard testing modality of ELISA. The MPox POC LFT performance versus ELISA will be characterised by test sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and likelihood ratios.
Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perspectives of healthcare workers and the public on studies in response to outbreaks
Time Frame: Day 1
Qualitative analysis of output from focus group discussion regarding taking part in this trial
Day 1
Perspectives of healthcare workers and the public on the development of novel immune diagnostic tools
Time Frame: Day 1
Qualitative analysis of focus groups with the healthcare workers and the public who have taken part in the study around this topic.
Day 1
Perspectives of healthcare workers and the public on the vaccine cold-chain readiness to support public health measures
Time Frame: Day 1
Qualitative analysis of focus groups with the healthcare workers and the public who have taken part in the study around this topic.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Christopher Green, University of Birmingham

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 5, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 18, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 19, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 19, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Mpox CARE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available to protect the confidentiality of study participants. Fully anonymised data are, however, available from the authors upon reasonable request.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data requests can be submitted starting immediately after article publication and the data will be made accessible for up to 5 years. Extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access to trial IPD can be requested by qualified researchers engaging in independent scientific research and will be provided following review and approval of a methodologically sound research proposal. Data must be required to achieve the aims in the approved proposal. Data requests should be directed to c.a.green.2@bham.ac.uk.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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