Publication: Viral load in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 : what have we learned?
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Date
2023
Authors
Mozgovoj, Marina Valeria
Didier Garnham, Mercedes Mónica
Ferrufino, Cecilia Gabriela Paola
Blanc, Sofia
Fernández Souto, Adriana Beatríz
Pilloff, Marcela Gabriela
Dus Santos, María José
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Asymptomatic and presymptomatic patients played a critical role in the maintenance and spread of infection during COVID pandemic. However, conflicting views about the infectiousness of asymptomatic patients have been raised.Identification of asymptomatic cases relies on SARS-CoV-2 genome detection and, in the absence of common epidemiological variables, quantification of viral load (VL) has been proposed as an estimator for SARS-CoV-2 transmission.Comparison of VLs from symptomatic and asymptomatic patients displayed variable results according to the studied population, the experimental design and the sampling, among other variables.The aim of this work was to determine VLs in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients at the time of sampling and to retrospectively determine their relationship with severity of disease and other parameters that affected the course of COVID-19, in two towns located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Results from our study showed that VLs from symptomatic and asymptomatic patients were significantly different when analyzed globally. In addition, significant differences were found when VLs from each COVID-19 wave were analyzed. In the first wave VLs from asymptomatic patients (log10 8,21 gc/µl) were significantly higher than in symptomatic ones (log10 6,51 gc/µl) while; in the second wave, VLs from asymptomatic patients resulted significantly lower than in symptomatic patients (log10 4,51 gc/µl and log10 5,23 gc/µl, respectively). In the third wave, no significant differences were observed between VLs from both types of patients.Results from this work demonstrated that the screening of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients was of utmost importance in order to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission to communities.
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Citation
Mozgovoj, Marina Valeria; Didier Garnham, Mercedes Mónica; Ferrufino, Cecilia Gabriela Paola; Blanc, Sofia; Fernández Souto, Adriana Beatriz; et al. (2023) Viral load in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients infected with SARS-CoV-2: What have we learned? Journal of Clinical Virology Plus; 3 (4)