ArticleBMC infectious diseases2022
SARS-CoV-2 viral load is associated with risk of transmission to household and community contacts.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load and COVID-19 Vaccination in 4 Phase 3 Trials.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Atorvastatin and telmisartan do not reduce nasopharyngeal carriage of SARS-CoV-2 in mild or moderate COVID-19 in a phase IIb randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Mouth rinses efficacy on salivary SARS-CoV-2 viral load: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of medical virology · 2023Trial
- Validation of Dried Saliva for Molecular Diagnostics.ACS measurement science au · 2026Article
- Neighborhood disadvantage and the back-to-school epidemic of viral-associated asthma exacerbations.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2025Article
- A One-Pot RT-LAMP Diagnostic Assay for SARS-CoV‑2 from Saliva Samples.ACS measurement science au · 2025Article
- Interplay Between Viral Shedding, Age, and Symptoms in Individual Infectivity of COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections in Households.Vaccines · 2025Article
- Amino acid substitutions in NSP6 and NSP13 of SARS-CoV-2 contribute to superior virus growth at low temperatures.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Author's response: Viral load decline time offers theoretical insight rather than practical value.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025Article
- Terminating pandemics with smartwatches.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Inferring transmission risk of respiratory viral infection from the viral load kinetics of SARS-CoV-2, England, 2020 to 2021 and influenza A virus, Hong Kong, 2008 to 2012.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025Article
- Effectiveness and user experience of nose and throat swabbing techniques for SARS-CoV-2 detection: results from the UK COVID-19 National Testing Programme.BMC global and public health · 2025Article
- Article
- SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces endothelial dysfunction in 3D engineered vascular networks.Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A · 2024Article
- Analysis of two sequential SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks on a haematology-oncology ward and the role of infection prevention.Infection prevention in practice · 2024Article
- Personal characteristics and transmission dynamics associated with SARS-CoV-2 semi-quantitative PCR test results: an observational study from Belgium, 2021-2022.Frontiers in public health · 2024Observational
- Severity of respiratory tract infections depends on the infectious dose. Perspectives for the next pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- COVID-19 dynamics and immune response: Linking within-host and between-host dynamics.Chaos, solitons, and fractals · 2023Article
- Mucosal vaccines for SARS-CoV-2: scientific gaps and opportunities-workshop report.NPJ vaccines · 2023Article
- Spread of viruses, which measures are the most apt to control COVID-19?Infectious diseases now · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFactors that lead to successful SARS-CoV-2 transmission are still not well described. We investigated the association between a case's viral load and the risk of transmission to contacts in the context of other exposure-related factors.
methodsData were generated through routine testing and contact tracing at a large university. Case viral loads were obtained from cycle threshold values associated with a positive polymerase chain reaction test result from October 1, 2020 to April 15, 2021. Cases were included if they had at least one contact who tested 3-14 days after the exposure. Case-contact pairs were formed by linking index cases with contacts. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate differences in proportions of contacts testing positive. Generalized estimating equation models with a log link were used to evaluate whether viral load and other exposure-related factors were associated with a contact testing positive.
resultsMedian viral load among the 212 cases included in the study was 5.6 (1.8-10.4) log
conclusionsFurther research is needed to understand whether these relationships persist for newer variants. For those variants whose transmission advantage is mediated through a high viral load, public health measures could be scaled accordingly. Index cases with higher viral loads could be prioritized for contact tracing and recommendations to quarantine contacts could be made according to the likelihood of transmission based on risk factors such as viral load.
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