October 26, 2020

Cell-Based Culture of SARS-CoV-2 Informs Infectivity and Safe de-Isolation Assessments during COVID-19

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

Keywords (Tags): transmission

Basile et al performed SARS-CoV-2 cell-based culture assays to assess infectivity of patients with COVID-19 and compare results to PCR.  They found that viable SARS-CoV-2 was significantly more likely to be isolated from samples collected from inpatients and ICU patients compared with outpatients, and in samples with lower cycle threshold (i.e. higher viral load). The authors suggest that viral culture could be used to remove isolation requirements for patients who have clinically recovered from COVID-19 but remain positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR, but acknowledge a limitation that many clinical labs do not have capacity to safely culture SARS-CoV-2.

Basile et al. (Oct 24, 2020). Cell-Based Culture of SARS-CoV-2 Informs Infectivity and Safe de-Isolation Assessments during COVID-19. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1579