May 6, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia Predicts Clinical Deterioration and Extrapulmonary Complications from COVID-19

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics

• In a sample of 191 COVID-19 patients presenting to the emergency department, viral RNA detected in blood (RNAemia) by digital PCR (dPCR) was associated with poor clinical outcomes. DCR was more sensitive than quantitative PCR (qPCR) in detecting RNAemia, or viral RNA in plasma (23% vs 1.4%). RNAemia was undetectable within 10 days of symptom onset, clinical severity peaked within 16 days, and symptoms resolved within 33 days for most patients with serial measurements. RNA load correlated with maximum severity, and initially RNAemic patients were more likely to have severe disease, worsening of disease severity, and extrapulmonary complications.

Ram-Mohan et al. (May 5, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia Predicts Clinical Deterioration and Extrapulmonary Complications from COVID-19. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab394