SARS-CoV-2 infections can be symptomatic as well as asymptomatic. In this study, we analyzed 460,814 saliva samples collected from July 2020 to January 2021 for a SARS-CoV-2-specific gene target using the FDA EUA test, CRL Rapid ResponseTM, based on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We measured SARS-CoV-2 viral loads using cycle threshold (Ct) values. A total of 17,813 samples tested positive for COVID-19 using self-collected saliva samples. The Ct values ranged from 11 to 40, 91.3% distributed between 22 to 38 Ct. We then compared Ct values for symptomatic and asymptomatic cases for all positive saliva samples. A total of 8,706 cases were symptomatic with an average Ct value of 29.24, and 9,107 cases were asymptomatic with an average Ct value of 30.99. Hence, SARS-CoV-2 viral loads (Ct) in saliva samples for both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases are similar.
Military training environments are rigorous, requiring service members to endure not only physical and psychological stress but also sleep deprivation, caloric restriction, and severe thermic challenges. The convention has been to use immunoendocrine responses induced by various exercise regimens to generalize results to the layered stress environments of wartime. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exercise models are accurate representations of the physiologic response to the stress experienced in an operational environment. To achieve this aim we identified changes in T cell proliferative capacity (costimulation through CD3+CD28 or stimulation with PHA) and relevant immunoendocrine interactions following an environment comparable to that experienced in Basic Combat Training. An increased proliferation response was observed post-exercise in T cells isolated from whole blood in the layered stress group with those increases still significant at 6 h post-exercise. In contrast, the moderate exercise group saw no significant changes in proliferative ability immediately after exercise exhibiting what could be expressed as a characteristic exercise response. Analyses of serum stress hormones, immunomodulatory cytokines, and immunoglobulins -G, -M, and -A failed to reveal any correlated variations that could clarify the T cell findings. These data suggest that exposure to a high stress environment leads to increased T cell proliferation that appears to be independent of changes in stress hormone concentrations and immunomodulatory cytokines. We submit that variations in exercise intensity and duration do not necessarily approximate military operational or tactical stress responses.
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