Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36183546›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology2022

SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal viral load in individuals infected with BA.2, compared to Alpha, Gamma, Delta and BA.1 variants: A single-center comparative analysis.

Ilaria Mastrorosa, Alessandro Cozzi-Lepri, Francesca Colavita, Eleonora Lalle, Valentina Mazzotta, Claudia Cimaglia, Jessica Paulicelli, Giulia Matusali, Lavinia Fabeni, Fabrizio Carletti and 13 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Quasi-species prevalence and clinical impact of evolving SARS-CoV-2 lineages in European COVID-19 cohorts, January 2020 to February 2022.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ilaria MastrorosaClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy. Electronic address: ilaria.mastrorosa@inmi.it.
Alessandro Cozzi-LepriCentre for Clinical Research, Epidemiology, Modelling and Evaluation (CREME), Institute for Global Health, UCL, London, United Kingdom.
Francesca ColavitaLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Eleonora LalleLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Valentina MazzottaClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Claudia CimagliaDepartment of Epidemiology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Jessica PaulicelliClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Giulia MatusaliLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Lavinia FabeniLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Fabrizio CarlettiLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Silvia RosatiClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Serena VitaClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Giuseppina GiannicoClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Pierluca PiselliDepartment of Epidemiology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Elisa BiliottiClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Samir Al MoghaziClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Silvia MostiClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Enrico GirardiDepartment of Epidemiology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy; Scientific Direction, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Emanuele NicastriClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Anna Rosa GarbugliaLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Fabrizio MaggiLaboratory of Virology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Francesco VaiaGeneral Direction, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Andrea AntinoriClinical and Research Infectious Diseases Department, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani IRCCS, Via Portuense 292, Rome 00149, Italy.
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani · ITNational Institute for Health Research · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSARS-CoV-2 has evolved, leading to the emergence of new Variants Of Concern (VOCs) with significant impact on transmissibility. Although the transmission process is complex, higher nasopharyngeal viral load (NP-VL) can be considered as a proxy for greater transmissibility.

objectivesThe aim of this analysis was to compare NP-VL across a set of representative VOCs observed in mildly symptomatic patients. STUDY

designObservational single-center comparative analysis of patients with early mild-to-moderate COVID-19, enrolled within the early treatment access program of Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute (March 2021-March 2022). NP-VL before drug administration was estimated through RT-PCR, based on cycle threshold values (CTs); VOCs were identified by Sanger sequencing. VOCs' average treatment effect (ATE) was estimated on the CTs fitted in the log2 scale, controlling for potential confounders.

resultsA total of 707 patients were included. VOCs were: 10% Alpha, 3% Gamma, 34% Delta, 34% BA.1, 19% BA.2. Mean CTs for BA.1 and BA.2 were lower than Delta and BA.1, respectively. After adjusting for calendar time, age, immunodeficiency and vaccination, CTs for Gamma were lower than those seen for Alpha and higher than Delta, for Delta were similar to BA.1, for BA.2 were lower than Delta and BA.1.

conclusionsOur analysis shows higher NP-VL of BA.2 compared to previously circulating VOCs, even after controlling for factors potentially contributing to the amount of nasopharyngeal viral RNA, included vaccination, supporting the increased transmissibility of BA.2. Further studies are necessary to clarify this mechanism and to provide guidance for public health measures.

Indexed as

COVID-19SARS-CoV-2HumansNasopharynxRNA, ViralViral LoadRNA, ViralCycle threshold (CT) valuesIncreased transmissibilityNasopharyngeal viral loadOmicron BA.2SARS-CoV-2Variants of concern (VOCs)

Identifiers

PMID36183546
PMCPMC9511897
OpenAlexW4297283063

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.