Skip to main content <#main-content>
medRxiv
* Home
* About
* Submit
* News & Notes
* ALERTS / RSS
Search for this keyword
/
/
Advanced Search
// Comment on this paper <#disqus_thread>
SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV viral load dynamics, duration of
viral shedding and infectiousness: a living systematic review and
meta-analysis
// View ORCID Profile Muge Cevik,
Matthew Tate, // View ORCID Profile
Oliver Lloyd, // View ORCID
Profile Alberto Enrico Maraolo,
Jenna Schafers, // View ORCID Profile
Antonia Ho
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.25.20162107
This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review
[what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to
be evaluated and so should /not/ be used to guide clinical practice.
Muge Cevik
1 Division of Infection and Global Health, School of Medicine,
University of St Andrews;
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
* ORCID record for Muge Cevik
* For correspondence: mc349@st-andrews.ac.uk
Matthew Tate
2 Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital Wishaw, Wishaw, UK;
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
Oliver Lloyd
3 NHS Lothian Infection Service, Regional Infectious Diseases Unit,
Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, U.K.;
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
* ORCID record for Oliver Lloyd
Alberto Enrico Maraolo
4 First Division of Infectious Diseases, Cotugno Hospital, AORN dei
Colli, Naples, Italy;
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
* ORCID record for Alberto Enrico Maraolo
Jenna Schafers
3 NHS Lothian Infection Service, Regional Infectious Diseases Unit,
Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, U.K.;
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
Antonia Ho
5 MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, University of
Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
* Find this author on Google Scholar
* Find this author on PubMed
* Search for this author on this site
* ORCID record for Antonia Ho
* For correspondence: antonia.ho@glasgow.ac.uk
* Abstract
* Info/History
* Metrics
* Supplementary material
* Data/Code
* // Preview PDF
Loading
Abstract
Background Viral load kinetics and the duration of viral shedding are
important determinants for disease transmission. We aim i) to
characterise viral load dynamics, duration of viral RNA, and viable
virus shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in various body fluids and ii) to compare
SARS-CoV-2 viral dynamics with SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV. Methods:
Medline, EMBASE, Europe PMC, preprint servers and grey literature were
searched to retrieve all articles reporting viral dynamics and duration
of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV shedding. We excluded case
reports and case series with < 5 patients, or studies that did not
report shedding duration from symptom onset. PROSPERO registration:
CRD42020181914. Findings: Seventy-nine studies on SARS-CoV-2, 8 on
SARS-CoV-1, and 11 on MERS-CoV were included. Mean SARS-CoV-2 RNA
shedding duration in upper respiratory tract, lower respiratory tract,
stool and serum were 17.0, 14.6, 17.2 and 16.6 days, respectively.
Maximum duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding reported in URT, LRT, stool
and serum was 83, 59, 35 and 60 days, respectively. Pooled mean duration
of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding was positively associated with age (p=0.002),
but not gender (p = 0.277). No study to date has detected live virus
beyond day nine of illness despite persistently high viral loads.
SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the upper respiratory tract appears to peak in
the first week of illness, while SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV peak later.
Conclusion: Although SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding in respiratory and stool
can be prolonged, duration of viable virus is relatively short-lived.
Thus, detection of viral RNA cannot be used to infer infectiousness.
High SARS-CoV-2 titres are detectable in the first week of illness with
an early peak observed at symptom onset to day 5 of illness. This review
underscores the importance of early case finding and isolation, as well
as public education on the spectrum of illness. However, given potential
delays in the isolation of patients, effective containment of SARS-CoV-2
may be challenging even with an early detection and isolation strategy.
Funding: No funding was received.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
No funding received
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any
necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or
exemption for the research described are given below:
Not applicable
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the
appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective
interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved
registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study
reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial
registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study
registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID
field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and
uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s)
and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Data Availability
All data fully available
Paper in collection *COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 preprints from medRxiv and
bioRxiv *
Copyright
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has
granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.It is
made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license
.
Blog posts linking to this article:
Devdiscourse, 29 Jul 2020
The
following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on
the novel coronavirus and efforts to find…
Tweets referencing this article:
88 followers
ICNIC
@ICNIC_L
RT @dockaurG : 3/ Recent pre-print
systematic review & meta-analysis on "#SARSCoV2
viral load dynamics, duration
of viral shedding & infecti…
11:24AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
205 followers
Sarah
@sass_byname
@ClarkeMicah @theblogmire
And as this study shows, these PCR
tests run on samples taken from upper respiratory tract swabs are likely
to be picking up RNA from inactive virus, which can persist for up to 83
days. Live virus wasn't detected after 9 days: ht
11:23AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
2 followers
Johan Yoga
@JohnYoga1
RT @dockaurG : 3/ Recent pre-print
systematic review & meta-analysis on "#SARSCoV2
viral load dynamics, duration
of viral shedding & infecti…
11:17AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
1,466 followers
Brian Dobson
@briandobson44
RT @mugecevik : Very excited to share our
new preprint "#SARSCoV2 viral
load dynamics, duration of viral shedding and infectiousness: a livi…
11:17AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
142 followers
إبراهيم سمير
@Ebraheem_hosam
RT @virolvlog : نتائج تحليل منهجي لـ 79
دراسة: - يبلغ الحمل الفيروسي في الجهاز التنفسي العلوي ذروته في الأسبوع
الأول - قد يتواجد الـ RNA في…
11:13AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
540 followers
Thomas Winterstein
@thewinterstein
RT @CovidSenseBloke : This needs
to, literally, go viral! 😂😂😂 https://t.co/lMhIL5sHWH
You are most infectious within 5 days. No live
virus…
11:06AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
985 followers
Uwe Grimm
@RealLateStarter
RT @mugecevik : Very excited to share our
new preprint "#SARSCoV2 viral
load dynamics, duration of viral shedding and infectiousness: a livi…
11:06AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
3,795 followers
Dr.saif abuzaid ,MD
@saifabuzaid
RT @virolvlog : نتائج تحليل منهجي لـ 79
دراسة: - يبلغ الحمل الفيروسي في الجهاز التنفسي العلوي ذروته في الأسبوع
الأول - قد يتواجد الـ RNA في…
11:04AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
125 followers
Sheila Bailey
@bsebailey
RT @dockaurG : 3/ Recent pre-print
systematic review & meta-analysis on "#SARSCoV2
viral load dynamics, duration
of viral shedding & infecti…
11:04AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
828 followers
Robert de Vito Boutin #KBF
@rdevitoboutin
RT @CovidSenseBloke : This needs
to, literally, go viral! 😂😂😂 https://t.co/lMhIL5sHWH
You are most infectious within 5 days. No live
virus…
11:02AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
1,254 followers
Erdem Şen
@Erdemsendr
RT @Amipgiardia : İngiltere ve
İtalya'daki araştırmacılar tarafından yapılan bir araştırmaya göre
SARS-CoV-2 en bulaştırıcı olduğu dönem ilk…
10:56AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
52 followers
Professor Pantsdown #KBF
@ProfessorPants2
RT @CovidSenseBloke : This needs
to, literally, go viral! 😂😂😂 https://t.co/lMhIL5sHWH
You are most infectious within 5 days. No live
virus…
10:53AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
204 followers
nejat gençer
@nejatgencer_dt
RT @Amipgiardia : İngiltere ve
İtalya'daki araştırmacılar tarafından yapılan bir araştırmaya göre
SARS-CoV-2 en bulaştırıcı olduğu dönem ilk…
10:53AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
359 followers
Kris Can't Surf
@Krisleblanc_
RT @dockaurG : 3/ Recent pre-print
systematic review & meta-analysis on "#SARSCoV2
viral load dynamics, duration
of viral shedding & infecti…
10:50AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
494 followers
dolay ozdinc
@dozdinc
RT @mugecevik : Very excited to share our
new preprint "#SARSCoV2 viral
load dynamics, duration of viral shedding and infectiousness: a livi…
10:48AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
17,458 followers
Kulvinder Kaur MD
@dockaurG
RT @dockaurG : 3/ Recent pre-print
systematic review & meta-analysis on "#SARSCoV2
viral load dynamics, duration
of viral shedding & infecti…
10:47AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
69 followers
andrew@kapstok.org
@andrewkapstoko1
RT @Jonathan_Witt : A very necessary
thread detailing important research which should have a significant
impact on our approach to testing a…
10:46AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
304 followers
Gregg A. Smith
@GreggASmith3
RT @kylamb8 : Again, positive tests tell us
nothing about spreading infections in the present tense. Share this.
It's important. It's why th…
10:45AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
4,458 followers
SystematicReviewBot
@EvidenceRobot
RT @solmicrobe : SARS CoV-2 Viral
Dynamics—a fantastic meta-analysis. https://t.co/0POf3Xq9UL
10:42AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
26 followers
Philip Westwell
@PhilWestwell
RT @dontbetyet : @AlistairHaimes
Maybe why....
https://t.co/dnKhnilh84
10:42AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
551 followers
ȺłɇɍȺn
@AleranLaChiante
RT @PascalCrepey : Infectieux jusqu'à
9 jours après les symptômes, mais positif à la PCR pendant 80 jours, ça
ne facilite pas le suivi en te…
10:38AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
153 followers
NathanRKuntz
@NathanRKuntz1
RT @Francis_Hoar : And those tested
may have had the virus, recovered from it and stopped being infectious
ten weeks ago: https://t.co/xZPLS …
10:38AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
32 followers
Paul R
@therockett
@DHSCgovuk You may want to read this
first https://t.co/CyqmQfu7Ml
10:37AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
266 followers
Michael, Baron of SoDak
@BaronMichaelSD
RT @kylamb8 : Again, positive tests tell us
nothing about spreading infections in the present tense. Share this.
It's important. It's why th…
10:36AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
530 followers
عزيز
@3shmshm
RT @virolvlog : نتائج تحليل منهجي لـ 79
دراسة: - يبلغ الحمل الفيروسي في الجهاز التنفسي العلوي ذروته في الأسبوع
الأول - قد يتواجد الـ RNA في…
10:35AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
192 followers
Nellie Voss
@nellie_voss
RT @pesla : Literatuurstudie (n=98, preprint)
over de vraag wanneer iemand met #COVID19
besmettelijk is. In het kort:
hoogtepunt waarschijn…
10:35AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
21 followers
David Taylor
@DavidTa69192197
RT @sass_byname : .. study. There is
the potential here for a lot of erroneous positive tests where people
have potentially cleared the vir…
10:33AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
21 followers
David Taylor
@DavidTa69192197
RT @sass_byname : @AlistairHaimes
And the virus detected in the upper
respiratory tract via nasal swabbing can be inert RNA fragments. Study…
10:32AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
500 followers
John Galt
@Ga1tJohn
RT @Francis_Hoar : And those tested
may have had the virus, recovered from it and stopped being infectious
ten weeks ago: https://t.co/xZPLS …
10:31AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
21 followers
Jody Meyer
@jayhawklove
RT @kylamb8 : Again, positive tests tell us
nothing about spreading infections in the present tense. Share this.
It's important. It's why th…
10:31AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite
28 followers
Ravi Vemuri
@solmicrobe
SARS CoV-2 Viral Dynamics—a fantastic meta-analysis.
https://t.co/0POf3Xq9UL
10:29AM
Reply
Retweet Favourite