SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Test Detection Rates Are Associated with Patient Age, Sex, and Time since Diagnosis

Levine-Tiefenbrun, Matan; Yelin, Idan; Uriel, Hedva; Kuint, Jacob; Schreiber, Licita; Herzel, Esma; Katz, Rachel; Ben‐Tov, Amir; Gazit, Sivan; Patalon, Tal; Chodick, Gabriel; Kishony, Roy

doi:10.1016/j.jmoldx.2021.10.010

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(97 reference statements)

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“…Although PCR tests are our best tool for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections, their false negative rates are still high 186 . Further bias is caused by false negative rates being higher in women and adults younger than 40 years 187 , those with a low viral load 188 and children (Box 1 ), with several studies showing 52–90% of cases in children missed by PCR tests 189 , 190 . The high false negative PCR rate results in symptomatic patients with COVID-19, who seek a COVID-19 test but receive a false negative result, being included as a control in many studies.…”

Section: Challenges and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations

Davis¹,

McCorkell²,

et al. 2023

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Long COVID is an often debilitating illness that occurs in at least 10% of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. More than 200 symptoms have been identified with impacts on multiple organ systems. At least 65 million individuals worldwide are estimated to have long COVID, with cases increasing daily. Biomedical research has made substantial progress in identifying various pathophysiological changes and risk factors and in characterizing the illness; further, similarities with other viral-onset illnesses such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome have laid the groundwork for research in the field. In this Review, we explore the current literature and highlight key findings, the overlap with other conditions, the variable onset of symptoms, long COVID in children and the impact of vaccinations. Although these key findings are critical to understanding long COVID, current diagnostic and treatment options are insufficient, and clinical trials must be prioritized that address leading hypotheses. Additionally, to strengthen long COVID research, future studies must account for biases and SARS-CoV-2 testing issues, build on viral-onset research, be inclusive of marginalized populations and meaningfully engage patients throughout the research process.

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Section: Challenges and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations

Davis¹,

McCorkell²,

et al. 2023

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“… 14 Ideally the test has to be performed during peak viral load, beyond which the rate of false negatives increases. 15 False negative rates are higher in women and younger people, 16 but can also be caused by laboratory errors, clerical errors or inadequate swabbing technique. 17 On top of this, testing has not always been easily accessible: from January to May 2020 in the UK, RT-qPCR nasopharyngeal swab testing was not available in the community; during the omicron wave in December 2021, supply of tests could not match demand, and the costs of testing restricts uptake for some people.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in seronegative patients with long COVID

Krishna¹,

Lim²,

Mactavous³

et al. 2022

eBioMedicine

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“…Second, differences in health-seeking behaviors may affect the timing at which individuals are tested and as viral load is associated with time post infection, such differences may in principle bias our results. Yet, we note that we minimized this effect by considering only the first positive test for each patient, which is typically performed within 5-6 days following infection, namely 1-2 days following symptoms 15,[18][19][20] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Waning of SARS-CoV-2 booster viral-load reduction effectiveness

Levine-Tiefenbrun

Yelin

Alapi

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to reduce viral load of breakthrough infections (BTIs), an important factor affecting infectiousness. This viral-load protective effect has been waning with time post the second vaccine and later restored with a booster shot. It is currently unclear though for how long this regained effectiveness lasts. Analyzing Ct values of SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR tests of over 22,000 infections during a Delta-variant-dominant period in Israel, we found that this viral-load reduction effectiveness significantly declines within months post the booster dose. Adjusting for age, sex and calendric date, Ct values of RdRp gene initially increased by 2.7 [CI: 2.3-3.0] relative to unvaccinated in the first month post the booster dose, yet then decayed to a difference of 1.3 [CI: 0.7-1.9] in the second month and became small and insignificant in the third to fourth months. The rate and magnitude of this post-booster decline in viral-load reduction effectiveness mirror those observed post the second vaccine. These results suggest rapid waning of the booster's effectiveness in reducing infectiousness, possibly affecting community-level spread of the virus.

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SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Test Detection Rates Are Associated with Patient Age, Sex, and Time since Diagnosis

Cited by 12 publications

References 55 publications

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations

Evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in seronegative patients with long COVID

Waning of SARS-CoV-2 booster viral-load reduction effectiveness

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