Posters
Presentation Type
Poster
Discipline Track
Clinical Science
Abstract Type
Research/Clinical
Abstract
Background: Currently available RT-PCR methods for the diagnosis of COVID-19 can give an estimate of the viral load. The cycle threshold value (Ct-value) of the PCR correlates inversely with the viral load; low Ct-values indicate high viral loads and vice versa. Higher viral loads have been seen to correlate with disease severity and infectivity. Therefore, we studied the correlation of the Ct-value of RT-PCR and the most common symptoms of COVID-19 individually.
Methods: A prospective and descriptive study was carried out with the subjects that attended our laboratory for a COVID-19 test from September 14, 2020, to January 30, 2021. Subjects filled out a questionnaire with demographic and clinical information prior to taking the naso and oropharyngeal samples. The samples were processed by Vircell SARS-CoV-2 Real-time PCR Kit (Granada, Spain). Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS software.
Results: We included 657 positive subjects with complete information, with a median age of 36 (27-47) and a male predominance of 477 (72.6%). Of these, 395 (60.1%) were symptomatic and the median number of symptoms was 2 (0-5). The most predominant symptoms were headache 271 (68.6%), cough 229 (58%), and myalgias 180 (45.6%). The median Ct-value for gene N was 30 (23-36) and for gene E was 31 (23-35). In comparison between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects, asymptomatic patients had a higher Ct-value (lower viral load) in both genes and a lower age (p
Conclusions: The viral load correlates with symptoms within COVID-19, having found that higher viral loads were correlated with symptoms such as headache, cough, and fever, while lower viral loads were correlated with dyspnea, diarrhea, and alterations of smell or taste senses.
Academic/Professional Position
Graduate Student
Recommended Citation
Fernández-Garza, Luis E.; Huitrón-Carrizales, A.; Barrera-Saldaña, Hugo A.; and Rodríguez-Palacios, Raúl, "Correlation between Ct-values and symptoms of COVID-19 patients" (2023). Research Symposium. 38.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/somrs/theme1/posters/38
Included in
Correlation between Ct-values and symptoms of COVID-19 patients
Background: Currently available RT-PCR methods for the diagnosis of COVID-19 can give an estimate of the viral load. The cycle threshold value (Ct-value) of the PCR correlates inversely with the viral load; low Ct-values indicate high viral loads and vice versa. Higher viral loads have been seen to correlate with disease severity and infectivity. Therefore, we studied the correlation of the Ct-value of RT-PCR and the most common symptoms of COVID-19 individually.
Methods: A prospective and descriptive study was carried out with the subjects that attended our laboratory for a COVID-19 test from September 14, 2020, to January 30, 2021. Subjects filled out a questionnaire with demographic and clinical information prior to taking the naso and oropharyngeal samples. The samples were processed by Vircell SARS-CoV-2 Real-time PCR Kit (Granada, Spain). Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS software.
Results: We included 657 positive subjects with complete information, with a median age of 36 (27-47) and a male predominance of 477 (72.6%). Of these, 395 (60.1%) were symptomatic and the median number of symptoms was 2 (0-5). The most predominant symptoms were headache 271 (68.6%), cough 229 (58%), and myalgias 180 (45.6%). The median Ct-value for gene N was 30 (23-36) and for gene E was 31 (23-35). In comparison between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects, asymptomatic patients had a higher Ct-value (lower viral load) in both genes and a lower age (p
Conclusions: The viral load correlates with symptoms within COVID-19, having found that higher viral loads were correlated with symptoms such as headache, cough, and fever, while lower viral loads were correlated with dyspnea, diarrhea, and alterations of smell or taste senses.