Prolonged Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Body Fluids

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background. Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging viral pandemic disease. In the last six months, SARS-CoV-2 has caused millions of reported cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. As other world regions, nowadays, South America has not contained the pandemic's advance since it lacks the hospital and economic capacities. Public health implications of transmission, while the asymptomatic infection is a critical concern at the current pandemic.Objective: Describe the socio-demographic, clinical, and viral kinetics features of a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the Colombian Caribbean. Methods: Six hundred eighty-six clinical samples of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection cases and contacts individuals from several hospital centers in the department of Córdoba, Colombia, were received at our laboratory between April 9th and May 16th, 2020. RNA was extracted using lysis buffers and spin columns. The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR (Reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction) using commercially available multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of 3 target genes of SARS-CoV-2 (AllplexTM, 2019-nCoV assay, Korea). Viral copies quantification was done using a standard curve constructed from seriated dilutions of a SARS-CoV-2 positive control. Statics descriptive methods were used. Results: Thirty-five nasopharyngeal samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection; the average age was 43 (range, 1-95 years). Seventeen of 35 (49%) of the patients showed symptoms. Most of them had a cough, fever, and odynophagia; three of the patients reported having arthralgia. Only two patients required hospitalization. None of the patients had known co-morbidities. RT-qPCR results show that two of the symptomatic patients had significantly higher RNA copies than the rest. Eighteen of 35 (51%) individuals were asymptomatic, and the average age was 30 (range, 6-61 years). Four asymptomatic individuals showed a higher copy than some symptomatic patients; nonetheless, the average of RNA copies 8.26 x10+10 was lower than the symptomatic.Conclusions: the population studied was young, with an average of 43 years in symptomatic and 30 years of asymptomatic; this is important because of the high impact in the economy. Because a large proportion of infections may result from transmission from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic persons, the usefulness of public health interventions in Colombian provinces should be based on molecular screening in a vast conglomerate population and quantify the viral load.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High number of RNA copies in asymptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in an area of the Colombian Caribbean

Máttar¹,

et al. 2020

Preprint

“…1C). Moreover, RT-PCR Ct lower than 34 of some of them presumes the possibility to isolate infectious SARS-CoV-2 to demonstrate viral viability [3,5,6].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If a considerable percentage of infections are asymptomatic, increased testing approaches may be needed to detect these persons [6,7]. Colombia has tested 3,741 per million people in a country with 50 million people, Brazil, with 330 million people have tested 3,462 subjects, Peru and Chile are the countries with more tested people in South America, exceeding the 25,000 tests.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Number of RNA Copies in Asymptomatic Individuals Infected with SARS-CoV-2 in an Area of the Colombian Caribbean

Mattar¹,

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging pandemical virus that has caused millions of reported cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths in less than six months. South America has suffered the pandemic because it lacks the hospital and economic capacities needed to contain the pandemic's advance. Public health implications of transmission, while asymptomatic is a critical concern at the current pandemic.Objective: Describe the socio-demographic, clinical, and viral kinetics features of a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the Colombian Caribbean.Methods: Six hundred eighty-six clinical samples from several hospital centers in the province were received between April 9th and May 16th, 2020. RNA was extracted using lysis buffers and spin columns. The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR (Reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction) using commercially available multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of 3 target genes of SARS-CoV-2 (AllplexTM, 2019-nCoV assay, Korea). Viral copies quantification was done using a standard curve constructed from seriated dilutions of a SARS-CoV-2 positive control.Results: Thirty-five nasopharyngeal samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection; the average age was 43 (range, 1-95 years). Seventeen of 35 (49%) of the patients showed symptoms. Most of them had cough, fever, and odynophagia, 3 of the patients reported having arthralgia. Only two patients required hospitalization. None of the patients had known co-morbidities. RT-qPCR results show that two of the symptomatic patients had significantly higher RNA copies than the rest of the patients. Eighteen of 35 (51%) individuals were asymptomatic, the average age was 30 (range, 6-61 years. Four individuals showed a higher copy than some symptomatic patients. Nonetheless, the average of RNA copies 8.26 x10+10 was lower than the symptomatic.Conclusions: the population studied was young with an average of 43 years in symptomatic and 30 years of asymptomatic; this is important because of the high impact in the economy, and probably it is the cause of the reduced lethality observed in the department. Because a large proportion of infections probably result from transmission from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic persons, the usefulness of public health interventions in Colombian provinces should be based in the molecular screening in a vast conglomerate's population and to quantify the viral load.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Number of RNA Copies in Asymptomatic Individuals Infected with SARS-CoV-2 in an Area of the Colombian Caribbean

Máttar¹,

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background. Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging pandemical virus that has caused millions of reported cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths in less than six months. South America has suffered the pandemic because it lacks the hospital and economic capacities needed to contain the pandemic's advance. Public health implications of transmission, while asymptomatic is a critical concern at the current pandemic.Objective: Describe the socio-demographic, clinical, and viral kinetics features of a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the Colombian Caribbean. Methods: Six hundred eighty-six clinical samples from several hospital centers in the province were received between April 9th and May 16th, 2020. RNA was extracted using lysis buffers and spin columns. The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR (Reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction) using commercially available multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of 3 target genes of SARS-CoV-2 (AllplexTM, 2019-nCoV assay, Korea). Viral copies quantification was done using a standard curve constructed from seriated dilutions of a SARS-CoV-2 positive control. Statics descriptive methods were used. Results: Thirty-five nasopharyngeal samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection; the average age was 43 (range, 1-95 years). Seventeen of 35 (49%) of the patients showed symptoms. Most of them had cough, fever, and odynophagia, 3 of the patients reported having arthralgia. Only two patients required hospitalization. None of the patients had known co-morbidities. RT-qPCR results show that two of the symptomatic patients had significantly higher RNA copies than the rest of the patients. Eighteen of 35 (51%) individuals were asymptomatic, the average age was 30 (range, 6-61 years. Four individuals showed a higher copy than some symptomatic patients. Nonetheless, the average of RNA copies 8.26 x10+10 was lower than the symptomatic.Conclusions: the population studied was young with an average of 43 years in symptomatic and 30 years of asymptomatic; this is important because of the high impact in the economy, and probably it is the cause of the reduced lethality observed in the department. Because a large proportion of infections probably result from transmission from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic persons, the usefulness of public health interventions in Colombian provinces should be based in the molecular screening in a vast conglomerate's population and to quantify the viral load.