Upper respiratory tract SARS-CoV-2 RNA loads in symptomatic and asymptomatic children and adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Studies comparing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA load in the upper respiratory tract (URT) between children and adults-who either presented with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or were asymptomatic-have yielded inconsistent results. Here, we conducted a retrospective, single-centre study to address this issue.

Patients and methods

Included were 1184 consecutive subjects (256 children and 928 adults) testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasopharyngeal exudates (NPs); of these, 424 (121 children and 303 adults) had COVID-19 and 760 (135 children and 625 adults) were asymptomatic close contacts of COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing was carried out using the TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, MS, USA).

SUBMITTER: Costa R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8349738 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature