May 6, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Kinetics in Symptomatic Children, Adolescents and Adults

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): children, clinical characteristics

• Mean viral load (VL) was slightly lower at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis for children aged 0-13 years (6.2 log10 copies/mL) and adolescents aged 14-19 years (6.4 log10 copies/mL) compared to adults aged  ≥20 years (6.7 log10 copies/mL) in a study in Switzerland (n=8,027). At time of diagnosis, the proportion of adults with VL > 6 log10 copies/mL (defined threshold for infectious virus) was significantly higher when compared to children (69% vs 58%). Analysis of VL kinetics, using day of symptom onset as an anchor, show that VL peaked within 3 days post symptom onset, with VL in children peaking and declining slightly faster compared to adults. All groups presented with VL > 6 log10 copies/mL up to 5 days post symptom onset.

Bellon et al. (May 5, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Kinetics in Symptomatic Children, Adolescents and Adults. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab396