Jesse Fajnzylber, J. Regan, Kendyll Coxen, H. Corry, Colline Wong, A. Rosenthal, Daniel P Worrall, Francoise F Giguel, A. Piechocka-Trocha, C. Atyeo, S. Fischinger, Andrew Chan, K. Flaherty, Kathryn Hall, M. Dougan, E. Ryan, Elizabeth Gillespie, R. Chishti, Yijia Li, N. Jilg, D. Hanidziar, R. Baron, L. Baden, A. Tsibris, Katrina A. Armstrong, D. Kuritzkes, G. Alter, Bruce D. Walker, Xu Yu, Jonathan Z. Li
medRxiv, 2020
The relationship between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and risk of disease progression remains largely undefined in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We quantified SARS-CoV-2 viral load from participants with a diverse range of COVID-19 severity, including those requiring hospitalization, outpatients with mild disease, and individuals with resolved infection. SARS-CoV-2 plasma RNA was detected in 27% of hospitalized participants and 13% of outpatients diagnosed with COVID-19. Amongst the participants hospitalized with COVID-19, higher prevalence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 plasma viral load was associated with worse respiratory disease severity, lower absolute lymphocyte counts, and increased markers of inflammation, including C-reactive protein and IL-6. SARS-CoV-2 viral loads, especially plasma viremia, were associated with increased risk of mortality. SARS-CoV-2 viral load may aid in the risk stratification of patients with COVID-19 and its role in disease pathogenesis should be further explored.
Cited by 127 publications.
Field of study: Medicine