Duration of infectiousness and correlation with RT-PCR cycle threshold values in cases of COVID-19, England, January to May 2020
Open accessAbstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viral load in the upper respiratory tract peaks around symptom onset and infectious virus persists for 10 days in mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease (n = 324 samples analysed). RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values correlate strongly with cultivable virus. Probability of culturing virus declines to 8% in samples with Ct > 35 and to 6% 10 days after onset; it is similar in asymptomatic and symptomatic persons. Asymptomatic persons represent a source of transmissible virus.
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Data were restricted to persons who reported symptoms and who underwent testing within 10 days after symptom onset to account for reduced sensitivity of PCR testing beyond this period.
“Data were restricted to persons who had reported symptoms, and only persons who had undergone testing within 10 days after symptom onset were included, in order to account for reduced sensitivity of PCR testing beyond this period.25”
From Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant (2021) · cites this paper as [25]
Sensitivity of PCR testing decreases beyond 10 days after symptom onset.
“Only those swabbed within 0-10 days of symptom onset were included in the analysis because sensitivity of PCR testing decreases beyond 10 days after symptom onset.”
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- Authors
- Singanayagam, A., Patel, M., Charlett, A., Lopez Bernal, J., Saliba, V., Ellis, J., Ladhani, S., Zambon, M., & Gopal, R.
- Affiliations
- Public Health England (GB)
- Data and Analytical Services, Public Health England, Colindale, United Kingdom
- Immunisation and Countermeasures, Public Health England, Colindale, United Kingdom
- Venue
- Eurosurveillance
- Published
- 2020-08-13
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 32
- ISSN
- 1025-496X (ISSN-L)
- 1560-7917
- PMC
- PMC7427302
- OpenAlex
- W3048795936
- Cited by
- 846
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 116 · 2022: 228 · 2021: 324 · 2020: 50
- FWCI
- 22.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2021-02-18)
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Eurosurveillance (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- St George's Online Research Archive (St George's University of London) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR201395)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, infectious period, viral load, RT-PCR cycle threshold, viral shedding, upper respiratory tract, asymptomatic transmission, viral culture, symptom onset
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Testing, Antibodies, Viral, England, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, RNA, Viral, Serologic Tests, Virus Shedding, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Infections, Clinical Laboratory Techniques, Viral Load, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Asymptomatic Infections, Pandemics
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