The relationship between COVID-19 viral load and disease severity: A systematic review.
Immun Inflamm Dis
; 10(3): e580, 2022 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1568102
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Patients with COVID-19 may present different viral loads levels. However, the relationship between viral load and disease severity in COVID-19 is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to systematically review the association between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and COVID-19 severity.METHODS:
The relevant studies using the keywords of "COVID-19" and "viral load" were searched in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. A two-step title/abstract screening process was carried out and the eligible studies were included in the study.RESULTS:
Thirty-four studies were included from the initial 1015 records. The vast majority of studies have utilized real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of the nasopharyngeal/respiratory swabs to report viral load. Viral loads were commonly reported either as cycle threshold (Ct ) or log10 RNA copies/ml.CONCLUSION:
The results were inconclusive about the relationship between COVID-19 severity and viral load, as a similar number of studies either approved or opposed this hypothesis. However, the studies denote the direct relationship between older age and higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load, which is a known risk factor for COVID-19 mortality. The higher viral load in older patients may serve as a mechanism for any possible relationships between COVID-19 viral load and disease severity. There was a positive correlation between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and its transmissibility. Nonetheless, further studies are recommended to precisely characterize this matter.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Immun Inflamm Dis
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Iid3.580
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