Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

January 6, 2021

Saliva Viral Load Is a Dynamic Unifying Correlate of COVID-19 Severity and Mortality

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[Pre-print, not-peer reviewed] In a cohort of 154 hospitalized patients, salivary viral load showed a superior ability over nasopharyngeal viral load to predict mortality over time (AUC=0.90). Salivary viral load was positively associated with COVID-19 inflammatory markers and type 1 immune response cytokines and higher viral loads strongly correlated with depletion of platelets, lymphocytes, and effector T cell subsets. Salivary viral load was also correlated with established risk factors for poor clinical outcomes in COVID-19 disease. Anti-spike and anti-receptor binding domain IgG levels were negatively correlated with saliva viral load.  

Silva et al. (Jan 6, 2021). Saliva Viral Load Is a Dynamic Unifying Correlate of COVID-19 Severity and Mortality. Pre-print downloaded Jan 6 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.04.21249236