ABSTRACT
We performed autopsies on persons in Germany who died from COVID-19 and observed higher nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral loads for variants of concern (VOC) compared with non-VOC lineages. Pulmonary inflammation and damage appeared higher in non-VOC than VOC lineages until adjusted for vaccination status, suggesting COVID-19 vaccination may mitigate pulmonary damage.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Humans , Autopsy , COVID-19 Vaccines , GermanyABSTRACT
We investigated the infectivity of 128 severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2-associated deaths and evaluated predictive values of standard diagnostic procedures. Maintained infectivity (20%) did not correlate with viral RNA loads but correlated well with anti-S antibody levels. Sensitivity >90% for antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests supports their usefulness for assessment.