SynthesisThe Journal of hospital infection2023
Viral cultures, cycle threshold values and viral load estimation for assessing SARS-CoV-2 infectiousness in haematopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplant patients: a systematic review.
Synthesis in The Journal of hospital infection, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serial cycle threshold to assess the infectious potential of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review.Epidemiology and infection · 2026Pooled it
- Oro-faecal transmission of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review of studies employing viral culture from gastrointestinal and other potential oro-faecal sources and evidence for transmission to humans.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical Evaluation of the Healgen Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test as a Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tool.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2025Article
- Comprehensive Review of COVID-19: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Advancement in Diagnostic and Detection Techniques, and Post-Pandemic Treatment Strategies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Early combination therapy of COVID-19 in high-risk patients.Infection · 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
- Article
- Judicious ending of isolation based on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold only for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring in-hospital therapy for longer than 20 days after symptom onset.Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Revisiting the personal protective equipment components of transmission-based precautions for the prevention of COVID-19 and other respiratory virus infections in healthcare.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSolid organ and haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients are more vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) than non-transplant recipients due to immunosuppression, and may pose a continued transmission risk, especially within hospital settings. Detailed case reports including symptoms, viral load and infectiousness, defined by the presence of replication-competent viruses in culture, provide an opportunity to examine the relationship between clinical course, burden and contagiousness, and provide guidance on release from isolation.
objectivesTo investigate the relationship between serial SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) value or cycle of quantification value, or other measures of viral burden and the likelihood and duration of the presence of infectious virus based on viral culture, including the influence of age, sex, underlying pathologies, degree of immunosuppression, and/or vaccination on this relationship, in transplant recipients.
methodsLitCovid, medRxiv, Google Scholar and the World Health Organization COVID-19 database were searched from 1
resultsThirteen case reports and case series reporting on 41 transplant recipients (22 renal, five cardiac, one bone marrow, two liver, one bilateral lung and 10 blood stem cell) were included in this review. A relationship was observed between proxies of viral burden and likelihood of shedding replication-competent SARS-CoV-2. Three individuals shed replication-competent viruses for >100 days after symptom onset. Lack of standardization of testing and reporting platforms precludes establishing a definitive viral burden cut-off. However, the majority of transplant recipients stopped shedding replication-competent viruses when the Ct value was >30 despite differences across platforms.
conclusionsViral burden is a reasonable proxy for infectivity when considered within the context of the clinical status of each patient. Standardized study design and reporting are essential to standardize guidance based on an increasing evidence base.
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Registered trials
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.