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Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 cell culture replication in respiratory samples from patients with severe COVID-19.
- Source :
-
Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases [Clin Microbiol Infect] 2021 Jun; Vol. 27 (6), pp. 886-891. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 22. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Objectives: This study compares the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory samples from patients with mild COVID-19 with those from hospitalized patients with severe bilateral pneumonia. In severe COVID-19, we also analysed the presence of neutralizing activity in paired sera.<br />Methods: We performed cell cultures on 193 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction respiratory samples, positive for SARS-CoV-2, obtained from 189 patients at various times, from clinical diagnosis to follow-up. Eleven samples were obtained from asymptomatic individuals, 91 samples from 91 outpatients with mild forms of COVID-19 and 91 samples from 87 inpatients with severe pneumonia. In these patients, neutralizing activity was analysed in 30 paired sera collected after symptom onset >10 days.<br />Results: We detected a cytopathic effect (CPE) in 91/193 (47%) samples. Viral viability was maintained for up to 10 days in patients with mild COVID-19. In patients with severe COVID-19, the virus remained viable for up to 32 days after the onset of symptoms. Patients with severe COVID-19 presented infectious virus at a significantly higher rate in the samples with moderate to low viral load (cycle threshold value ≥ 26): 32/75 (43%) versus 14/63 (22%) for mild cases (p < 0.01). We observed a positive CPE despite the presence of clear neutralizing activity (NT50 > 1:1024 in 10% (3/30) of samples.<br />Discussion: Patients with severe COVID-19 might shed viable virus during prolonged periods of up to 4 weeks after symptom onset, even when presenting high cycle threshold values in their respiratory samples and despite having developed high neutralizing antibody titres.<br /> (Copyright © 2021 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Aged
Animals
Antibodies, Viral blood
COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing
Cell Culture Techniques
Chlorocebus aethiops
Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral
Female
Hospitalization
Humans
Immunoglobulin G blood
Immunoglobulin M blood
Male
Microbial Viability
Middle Aged
Pneumonia, Viral
SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity
Serologic Tests
Severity of Illness Index
Time Factors
Vero Cells
Viral Load
Virus Shedding
Young Adult
COVID-19 immunology
COVID-19 virology
SARS-CoV-2 growth & development
Virus Cultivation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1469-0691
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 33631334
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2021.02.014