Temporal, Spatial, and Epidemiologic Relationships of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Gene Cycle Thresholds: A Pragmatic Ambi-directional Observation

Emil Lesho; Lisa Reno; Donna Newhart; Robert Clifford; Olga Vasylyeva; John Hanna; Stephanie Yu; Jonathan Bress; Edward Walsh

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1248

Temporal, Spatial, and Epidemiologic Relationships of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Gene Cycle Thresholds: A Pragmatic Ambi-directional Observation

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Nov 2;73(9):e3133-e3135. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1248.

Authors

Emil Lesho¹, Lisa Reno¹, Donna Newhart², Robert Clifford³, Olga Vasylyeva¹, John Hanna¹, Stephanie Yu⁴, Jonathan Bress¹, Edward Walsh⁵

Affiliations

¹ Medicine Department, Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York, USA.
² Quality Department, Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York, USA.
³ Bioinformatics, Cavia Partners, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Surgery Department, Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York, USA.
⁵ Infectious Diseases Department, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA.

Abstract

Prospective serial sampling of 70 patients revealed clinically relevant cycle thresholds (Ct) occurring 9, 26, and 36 days after symptom onset. Race, gender, and corticosteroids apparently did not influence RNA positivity. In a retrospective analysis of 180 patients, initial Ct did not correlate with requirements for admission or intensive care.

Keywords: RNA positivity; SARS-CoV-2; corticosteroids; cycle threshold.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Hospitalization
Humans
Prospective Studies
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2*