ArticleImmunity, inflammation and disease2023
Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5 is lower than that of BA.2 despite the higher infectivity of BA.5.
Article in Immunity, inflammation and disease, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- A highly divergent sample from a nearly extinct SARS-CoV-2 lineage in a patient with long-term COVID-19.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Reinfection rate and disease severity of the BA.5 Omicron SARS-CoV-2 lineage compared to previously circulating variants of concern in the Canary Islands (Spain).Emerging microbes & infections · 2023Observational
- Viral load of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5 is lower than that of BA.2 despite the higher infectivity of BA.5.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2023Article
- Epidemiology and Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern: The Impacts of the Spike Mutations.Microorganisms · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSublineage BA.5 of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant rapidly spread and replaced BA.2 in July 2022 in Tokyo. A high viral load can be a possible cause of high transmissibility. METHODS AND
resultsThe copy numbers of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from all patients visiting the hospital where this research was conducted were measured using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Viral genotypes were determined using PCR-based melting curve analysis. Next, whole-genome sequencing was performed using approximately one fifth of the samples to verify the viral genotypes determined using PCR. Then, the copy numbers of the BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5 cases were compared. Contrary to expectations, the copy numbers of the BA.5 cases (median 4.7 × 10
conclusionThe results presented here suggest that the increased infectivity of BA.5 is not caused by higher viral loads, but presumably by other factors such as increased affinity to human cell receptors or immune escape due to its L452R mutation.
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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.