Open AccessHigh Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Persons With SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Northern Italian Area
Author(s) -
Francesca Valent,
Giada Mazzilis,
Anna Doimo,
Stefania Marzinotto,
Michela Bulfoni,
Valentina Moretti,
Annarita Tullio,
Francesco Curcio,
Corrado Pipan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
infectious diseases in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1536-9943
pISSN - 1056-9103
DOI - 10.1097/ipc.0000000000001068
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , respiratory system , virology , viral load , virus , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak , disease
An assessment of viral load in biologic specimens of subjects with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may have important implications for public health planning. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of high viral load in upper respiratory specimens of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first Italian wave (spring) and at the beginning of the second wave (summer) of the COVID-19 epidemic, through the measurement of cycle threshold (Ct) values from real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests conducted at the University Hospital of Udine, Italy, serving 530,000 inhabitants.