December 2, 2020

High Anal Swab Viral Load Predisposes Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Severe COVID-19 Patients

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics, testing

Higher viral load of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in anal swab samples was associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes including death (OR=1.4), ICU admission (OR=1.2) and need for invasive mechanical ventilation (OR=1.3) among a cohort of 188 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in China. The period from symptom onset to positive virus detection was also significantly shorter in non-survivors than in survivors (median 14 vs. 19 days, p=0.007). 

Li et al. (Dec 1, 2020). High Anal Swab Viral Load Predisposes Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Severe COVID-19 Patients. Emerging Microbes & Infections. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1858700