Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Viral Load in the Upper Respiratory Tract of Children and Adults With Early Acute Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Stéphanie Baggio; Arnaud G L'Huillier; Sabine Yerly; Mathilde Bellon; Noémie Wagner; Marie Rohr; Angela Huttner; Géraldine Blanchard-Rohner; Natasha Loevy; Laurent Kaiser; Frédérique Jacquerioz; Isabella Eckerle

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1157

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Viral Load in the Upper Respiratory Tract of Children and Adults With Early Acute Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Jul 1;73(1):148-150. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1157.

Authors

Stéphanie Baggio^{1

2}, Arnaud G L'Huillier^{3

4}, Sabine Yerly⁴, Mathilde Bellon⁴, Noémie Wagner³, Marie Rohr³, Angela Huttner⁵, Géraldine Blanchard-Rohner^{3

6}, Natasha Loevy⁷, Laurent Kaiser^{4

5

8}, Frédérique Jacquerioz^{5

9

10}, Isabella Eckerle^{4

5

8

11}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Office of Corrections, Department of Justice and Home Affairs of the Canton of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Children's Hospital of Geneva, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Laboratory of Virology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Center for Vaccinology and Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁷ Pediatric Platform for Clinical Research, Department of Woman, Child and Adolescent Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Center for Emerging Viral Diseases, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁹ Division of Tropical and Humanitarian Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Primary Care Division, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ Department of Molecular Medicine and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.

Abstract

The factors that contribute to transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by children are unclear. We analyzed viral load at the time of diagnosis in 53 children and 352 adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the first 5 days post symptom onset. No significant differences in SARS-CoV-2 RNA loads were seen between children and adults.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19*
Child
Humans
RNA, Viral
Respiratory System
SARS-CoV-2*
Viral Load

Substances

RNA, Viral

Grants and funding

31CA30_196732/1/Swiss National Foundation