J Infect Dis . Factors associated with viral load kinetics of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus during the 2015 outbreak in South Korea

[tetano]

J Infect Dis


. 2020 Aug 6;jiaa466.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa466. Online ahead of print.
Factors associated with viral load kinetics of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus during the 2015 outbreak in South Korea


Jeong-Sun Yang ¹ , Min-Gyu Yoo ¹ , Hye-Ja Lee ¹ , Han Byul Jang ¹ , Hee-Dong Jung ¹ , Jeong-Gu Nam ¹ , Joo-Yeon Lee ¹ , Youngmee Jee ¹ , Sung Soon Kim ¹



Affiliations

• PMID: 32761054
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa466

Abstract

We conducted a retrospective study of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) viral load kinetics using data from patients hospitalised with MERS-CoV infection between 19 May and 20 August, 2015. Viral load trajectories were considered over the hospitalisation period using 1,714 viral load results measured in serial respiratory specimens of 185 patients. The viral load levels were significantly higher among non-survivors than among survivors (p=0.003). Healthcare workers (p = 0.001) and non-spreaders (p <0.001) had significantly lower viral loads. Viral RNA was present on the day of symptom onset and peaked 4-10 days after symptom onset.

Keywords: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; healthcare-associated infections; infectious disease transmission; viral load; virus shedding.