July 17, 2020

SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Assessment in Respiratory Samples

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

• Kleiboecker et al. report the distribution of viral loads in a large number of SARS-CoV-2-positive respiratory samples (n=4,428). Fifteen percent of samples had extremely high virus levels (>8 log10 copies/ml), while low viral loads (<1000 copies/ml) were relatively common (10%). Neither age nor gender were meaningfully associated with mean and median viral load. The authors also review challenges in comparing viral load values between studies.  

Kleiboeker et al. (May 2020). SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Assessment in Respiratory Samples. Journal of Clinical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104439