Trial reportPloS one2020
Transmissibility of COVID-19 depends on the viral load around onset in adult and symptomatic patients.
Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Nirmatrelvir combined with ritonavir for preventing and treating COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Nirmatrelvir combined with ritonavir for preventing and treating COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The relationship between COVID-19 viral load and disease severity: A systematic review.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Ordinary differential equation models of SARS-CoV-2 replication dynamics and antiviral drug efficacies.Npj viruses · 2026Review
- Intracellular interactions shape antiviral resistance outcomes in poliovirus via eco-evolutionary feedback.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Modeling the Impact of Ensitrelvir on SARS-CoV-2 Dynamics and Its Application for Assessment of Transmission Mitigation of Patients with COVID-19.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2024Article
- Astodrimer Sodium Nasal Spray versus Placebo in Non-Hospitalised Patients with COVID-19: A Randomised, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in the Nasopharynx at Time of First Infection Among Unvaccinated Individuals: A Secondary Cross-Protocol Analysis of 4 Randomized Trials.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Characteristics of infections with ancestral, Beta and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the PHIRST-C community cohort study, South Africa, 2020-2021.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Infectious virus shedding duration reflects secretory IgA antibody response latency after SARS-CoV-2 infection.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Investigation of Initial Viral Loads and Patient Characteristics as Predictors of COVID-19 Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Infectious disease reports · 2023Article
- The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 lineages and associated saliva antibody responses among asymptomatic individuals in a large university community.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Evolutionary safety of lethal mutagenesis driven by antiviral treatment.PLoS biology · 2023Article
- Predicting onset risk of COVID-19 symptom to support healthy travel route planning in the new normal of long-term coexistence with SARS-CoV-2.Environment and planning. B, urban analytics and city science · 2023Article
- Does Widespread Use of Hydroxychloroquine Reduce the Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19? An Ecological Correlational Study.Infectious disorders drug targets · 2023Article
- Staging of COVID-19 disease; using selected laboratory profiles for prediction, prevention and management of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa-review.African health sciences · 2023Review
- Association between SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load and Patient Symptoms and Clinical Outcomes Using Droplet Digital PCR.Viruses · 2023Article
- A Spatiotemporal Solution to Control COVID-19 Transmission at the Community Scale for Returning to Normalcy: COVID-19 Symptom Onset Risk Spatiotemporal Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Article
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the relationship between viral load and secondary transmission in novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
methodsEpidemiological and clinical data were obtained from immunocompetent laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to and/or from whom viral loads were measured at Toyama University Hospital. Using a case-control approach, index patients who transmitted the disease to at least one other patient were analysed as "cases" (index patients) compared with patients who were not the cause of secondary transmission (non-index patients, analysed as "controls"). The viral load time courses were assessed between the index and non-index symptomatic patients using non-linear regression employing a standard one-phase decay model.
resultsIn total, 28 patients were included in the analysis. Median viral load at the initial sample collection was significantly higher in symptomatic than in asymptomatic patients and in adults than in children. Among symptomatic patients (n = 18), non-linear regression models showed that the estimated viral load at onset was higher in the index than in the non-index patients (median [95% confidence interval]: 6.6 [5.2-8.2] vs. 3.1 [1.5-4.8] log copies/μL, respectively). In adult (symptomatic and asymptomatic) patients (n = 21), median viral load at the initial sample collection was significantly higher in the index than in the non-index patients (p = 0.015, 3.3 vs. 1.8 log copies/μL, respectively).
conclusionsHigh nasopharyngeal viral loads around onset may contribute to secondary transmission of COVID-19. Viral load may help provide a better understanding of why transmission is observed in some instances, but not in others, especially among household contacts.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.