tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz
. 2022 Jan 10;116:e210176.
doi: 10.1590/0074-02760210176. eCollection 2022.
Identification and characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 and Human alphaherpesvirus 1 from a productive coinfection in a fatal COVID-19 case
Alice Laschuk Herlinger[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fábio Luís Lima Monteiro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mirela D'arc[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Filipe Romero Rebello Moreira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Harrison James Westgarth[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rafael Mello Galliez[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Diana Mariani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Luciana Jesus da Costa[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Luiz Gonzaga Paula de Almeida[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Carolina Moreira Voloch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Covid19-UFRJ Workgroup[SUP] 6 [/SUP]; Adriana Suely de Oliveira Melo[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Renato Santana de Aguiar[SUP] 8 [/SUP], André Felipe Andrade Dos Santos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Terezinha Marta Pereira Pinto Castiñeiras[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Esaú Custódio João Filho[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Claudia Caminha Escosteguy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Orlando da Costa Ferreira Junior[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amilcar Tanuri[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Luiza Mendonça Higa[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: During routine Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis, an unusually high viral load was detected by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in a nasopharyngeal swab sample collected from a patient with respiratory and neurological symptoms who rapidly succumbed to the disease. Therefore we sought to characterise the infection.
Objectives: We aimed to determine and characterise the etiological agent responsible for the poor outcome.
Methods: Classical virological methods, such as plaque assay and plaque reduction neutralisation test combined with amplicon-based sequencing, as well as a viral metagenomic approach, were performed to characterise the etiological agents of the infection.
Findings: Plaque assay revealed two distinct plaque phenotypes, suggesting either the presence of two severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains or a productive coinfection of two different species of virus. Amplicon-based sequencing did not support the presence of any SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants that would explain the high viral load and suggested the presence of a single SARS-CoV-2 strain. Nonetheless, the viral metagenomic analysis revealed that Coronaviridae and Herpesviridae were the predominant virus families within the sample. This finding was confirmed by a plaque reduction neutralisation test and PCR.
Main conclusions: We characterised a productive coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) in a patient with severe symptoms that succumbed to the disease. Although we cannot establish the causal relationship between the coinfection and the severity of the clinical case, this work serves as a warning for future studies focused on the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 coinfection and COVID-19 severity.
. 2022 Jan 10;116:e210176.
doi: 10.1590/0074-02760210176. eCollection 2022.
Identification and characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 and Human alphaherpesvirus 1 from a productive coinfection in a fatal COVID-19 case
Alice Laschuk Herlinger[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fábio Luís Lima Monteiro[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mirela D'arc[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Filipe Romero Rebello Moreira[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Harrison James Westgarth[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rafael Mello Galliez[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Diana Mariani[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Luciana Jesus da Costa[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Luiz Gonzaga Paula de Almeida[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Carolina Moreira Voloch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Covid19-UFRJ Workgroup[SUP] 6 [/SUP]; Adriana Suely de Oliveira Melo[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Renato Santana de Aguiar[SUP] 8 [/SUP], André Felipe Andrade Dos Santos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Terezinha Marta Pereira Pinto Castiñeiras[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Esaú Custódio João Filho[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Claudia Caminha Escosteguy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Orlando da Costa Ferreira Junior[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amilcar Tanuri[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Luiza Mendonça Higa[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35019069
- DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760210176
Abstract
Background: During routine Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis, an unusually high viral load was detected by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in a nasopharyngeal swab sample collected from a patient with respiratory and neurological symptoms who rapidly succumbed to the disease. Therefore we sought to characterise the infection.
Objectives: We aimed to determine and characterise the etiological agent responsible for the poor outcome.
Methods: Classical virological methods, such as plaque assay and plaque reduction neutralisation test combined with amplicon-based sequencing, as well as a viral metagenomic approach, were performed to characterise the etiological agents of the infection.
Findings: Plaque assay revealed two distinct plaque phenotypes, suggesting either the presence of two severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains or a productive coinfection of two different species of virus. Amplicon-based sequencing did not support the presence of any SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants that would explain the high viral load and suggested the presence of a single SARS-CoV-2 strain. Nonetheless, the viral metagenomic analysis revealed that Coronaviridae and Herpesviridae were the predominant virus families within the sample. This finding was confirmed by a plaque reduction neutralisation test and PCR.
Main conclusions: We characterised a productive coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) in a patient with severe symptoms that succumbed to the disease. Although we cannot establish the causal relationship between the coinfection and the severity of the clinical case, this work serves as a warning for future studies focused on the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 coinfection and COVID-19 severity.