December 7, 2020

SARS-CoV-2 RNA Detected in Blood Products from Patients with COVID-19 Is Not Associated with Infectious Virus

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

Keywords (Tags): transmission

A systematic review of 28 studies intended to inform safety protocols for handling blood products from people with COVID-19 found there were low levels of detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a minority of serum samples (pooled estimate 10%) collected during acute infection. In an associated laboratory analysis, the authors also performed RT-PCR in serum samples from a clinical cohort of people who recovered from COVID-19 (n=212 samples from 167 patients), and 12.7% had RNA detected by RT-PCR. Across all samples collected ≥28 days post-symptom onset, 0/494 had viral RNA. PCR-positive sera inoculated into cell culture did not produce any cytopathic effect or yield an increase in detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

Andersson et al. (Oct 12, 2020). SARS-CoV-2 RNA Detected in Blood Products from Patients with COVID-19 Is Not Associated with Infectious Virus. Wellcome Open Research. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16002.1