scholarly journals Viral Dynamics and Real-Time RT-PCR Ct Values Correlation with Disease Severity in COVID-19

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1091
Author(s):  
Ali A. Rabaan ◽  
Raghavendra Tirupathi ◽  
Anupam A Sule ◽  
Jehad Aldali ◽  
Abbas Al Mutair ◽  
...  

Real-time RT-PCR is considered the gold standard confirmatory test for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, many scientists disagree, and it is essential to understand that several factors and variables can cause a false-negative test. In this context, cycle threshold (Ct) values are being utilized to diagnose or predict SARS-CoV-2 infection. This practice has a significant clinical utility as Ct values can be correlated with the viral load. In addition, Ct values have a strong correlation with multiple haematological and biochemical markers. However, it is essential to consider that Ct values might be affected by pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytical variables such as collection technique, specimen type, sampling time, viral kinetics, transport and storage conditions, nucleic acid extraction, viral RNA load, primer designing, real-time PCR efficiency, and Ct value determination method. Therefore, understanding the interpretation of Ct values and other influential factors could play a crucial role in interpreting viral load and disease severity. In several clinical studies consisting of small or large sample sizes, several discrepancies exist regarding a significant positive correlation between the Ct value and disease severity in COVID-19. In this context, a revised review of the literature has been conducted to fill the knowledge gaps regarding the correlations between Ct values and severity/fatality rates of patients with COVID-19. Various databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched up to April 2021 by using keywords including “RT-PCR or viral load”, “SARS-CoV-2 and RT-PCR”, “Ct value and viral load”, “Ct value or COVID-19”. Research articles were extracted and selected independently by the authors and included in the present review based on their relevance to the study. The current narrative review explores the correlation of Ct values with mortality, disease progression, severity, and infectivity. We also discuss the factors that can affect these values, such as collection technique, type of swab, sampling method, etc.

Author(s):  
Michela Deiana ◽  
Chiara Piubelli ◽  
Antonio Mori ◽  
Gian Paolo Chiecchi ◽  
Giulia La Marca ◽  
...  

Background: The reference test for SARS-CoV-2 detection is the reverse transcriptase real time PCR (real time RT-PCR). However, evidences reported that real time RT-PCR has a lower sensitivity compared with the droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) leading to possible false negative in low viral load cases. Methods: We used ddPCR for viral genes N1 and N2 on 20 negative (no detection) samples from symptomatic hospitalized COVID-patients presenting fluctuating real time RT-PCR results and 10 suspected samples (Ct value>35) from asymptomatic not hospitalized subjects. Results: ddPCR performed on RNA revealed 65% of positivity for at least one viral target in the hospitalized patients group of samples (35% for N1 and N2, 10% only for N1 and 20% only for N2) and 50% in the suspected cases (30% for N1 and N2, while 20% only for N2). On hospitalized patients’ samples, we applied also a direct ddPCR approach on the swab material, achieving an overall positivity of 83%. Conclusion: ddPCR, in particular the direct quantitation on swabs, shows a sensitivity advantage for the SARS-CoV-2 identification and may be useful to reduce the false negative diagnosis, especially for low viral load suspected samples.


2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 1168-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-N. Telles ◽  
K. Le Roux ◽  
P. Grivard ◽  
G. Vernet ◽  
A. Michault

The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a member of the genus Alphavirus that is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes. In 2005 and 2006, the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion was hit with an unprecedented CHIKV fever outbreak that infected 300 000 people. In the present study, we describe the evaluation of real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (RT-NASBA) for the detection of CHIKV in clinical samples. A co-extracted and co-amplified chimerical CHIKV RNA sequence was used as an internal control to eliminate false-negative results. The detection threshold of the assay was determined from quantified CHIKV-positive plasma, and estimated to be 200 copies per NASBA reaction. The specificity of the assay was determined using blast analyses and non-cross-reactivity using an O'nyong-nyong virus culture and 250 CHIKV RT-PCR-negative plasma samples. A 100 % specificity was found and no invalid result was obtained, showing the good quality of the nucleic acid extraction. The assay was then evaluated using 252 CHIKV-positive RT-PCR plasma samples. The samples were all tested positive, including those with low viral load. This evaluation showed that the RT-NASBA is a rapid (5 h from sample nucleic acid extraction to detection), sensitive, specific and reliable method for the routine diagnosis of CHIKV in clinical samples.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Khurshid ◽  
Sajad Iqbal ◽  
Madiha Mumtaz

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, has caused an unconventional social and economic impact globally. To date, there was limited data regarding the effect of COVID-19 infection on the trend of RT-PCR Ct value, risk factors for disease, effect on liver enzymes, etc. This study aimed to assess the frequency of COVID-19 infection in different age groups and genders. Association of cycle threshold (Ct) values with disease severity and to describe the effect of COVID-19 infection on LFT, Deritis ratio, and CRP. That can be used as indicators for COVID-19 infection diagnosis, the guidance for treatment decisions, and prognosis in infected individuals. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Molecular Biology and Chemical Pathology sections of the Pathology Department, Shalamar Teaching Hospital Lahore from November 2020 to March 2021. RESULTS: Males 51% were more likely to be infected by SARS-CoV-2. Most of the infected individuals 36.5% were in the age group 20-40. Age and underlying comorbidities are important factors that play a significant role in COVID-19 severity. The uppermost number of the patients had symptoms of fever 78.3%, cough 50.4%, and myalgias 50.1% RT-PCR low Ct value could be an important indicator related with the disease severity and mortality risk p value < 0.001 and 0.003 respectively. Bilirubin indirect, ALT, AST, and CRP were significantly associated with disease severity. Deritis ratio and CRP were found to be significantly associated with the risk of mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Real-Time PCR results along with Ct values for SARS-CoV-2 may have benefits for clinicians in patient management decisions. Several risk factors e.g., age and comorbidities for developing severe disease and mortality risk have been identified. These biochemical laboratory parameters ALT, AST, Deritis ratio and CRP can be used as predictive biomarkers for progression towards severe disease and risk of mortality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwynngelle A Borillo ◽  
Ron M Kagan ◽  
Russell E Baumann ◽  
Boris M Fainstein ◽  
Lamela Umaru ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Nucleic acid amplification testing is a critical tool for addressing the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Specimen pooling can increase throughput and conserve testing resources but requires validation to ensure that reduced sensitivity does not increase the false-negative rate. We evaluated the performance of a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use for pooled testing of upper respiratory specimens. Methods Positive specimens were selected from 3 prevalence groups, 1%–3%, &gt;3%–6%, and &gt;6%–10%. Positive percent agreement (PPA) was assessed by pooling single-positive specimens with 3 negative specimens; performance was assessed using Passing-Bablok regression. Additionally, we assessed the distributions of RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values for 3091 positive specimens. Results PPA was 100% for the 101 pooled specimens. There was a linear relationship between Ct values for pooled and single-tested specimens (r = 0.96–0.99; slope ≈ 1). The mean pooled Ct shifts at 40 cycles were 2.38 and 1.90, respectively, for the N1 and N3 targets. The median Cts for 3091 positive specimens were 25.9 (N1) and 24.7 (N3). The percentage of positive specimens with Cts between 40 and the shifted Ct was 1.42% (N1) and 0.0% (N3). Conclusions Pooled and individual testing of specimens positive for SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated 100% agreement, which demonstrates the viability of pooled specimens for SARS-COV-2 testing using a dual-target RT-PCR system. Pooled specimen testing can help increase testing capacity for SARS-CoV-2 with a low risk of false-negative results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Reza Alizad Rahvar ◽  
Safar Vafadar ◽  
Mehdi Totonchi ◽  
Mehdi Sadeghi

After lifting the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and opening businesses, screening is essential to prevent the spread of the virus. Group testing could be a promising candidate for screening to save time and resources. However, due to the high false-negative rate (FNR) of the RT-PCR diagnostic test, we should be cautious about using group testing because a group's false-negative result identifies all the individuals in a group as uninfected. Repeating the test is the best solution to reduce the FNR, and repeats should be integrated with the group-testing method to increase the sensitivity of the test. The simplest way is to replicate the test twice for each group (the 2Rgt method). In this paper, we present a new method for group testing (the groupMix method), which integrates two repeats in the test. Then we introduce the 2-stage sequential version of both the groupMix and the 2Rgt methods. We compare these methods analytically regarding the sensitivity and the average number of tests. The tradeoff between the sensitivity and the average number of tests should be considered when choosing the best method for the screening strategy. We applied the groupMix method to screening 263 people and identified 2 infected individuals by performing 98 tests. This method achieved a 63% saving in the number of tests compared to individual testing. Our experimental results show that in COVID-19 screening, the viral load can be low, and the group size should not be more than 6; otherwise, the FNR increases significantly. A web interface of the groupMix method is publicly available for laboratories to implement this method.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Jahidur Rahman Khan ◽  
Md. Shahadat Hossain ◽  
Samshad Jahan Shumu ◽  
Md. Selim Reza ◽  
Farzana Mim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: While the COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide crisis, tests with high sensitivity and specificity are essential for identifying and managing COVID-19 patients. Globally, several rapid antigen tests RATs for COVID-19 have been developed, but their clinical efficacy has not been well established. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of several rapid antigen tests (RATs) to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College hospital from February 2021 to April 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study included the patients admitted in this hospital at the COVID-19 isolation unit or referred from the triage facility of the outdoor department of this hospital suspected as COVID-19 case. Two nasopharyngeal samples were collected simultaneously. one sample was used on the spot for the RAT. The other was sent to the adjacent Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College COVID-19 RT-PCR laboratory for real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The performance of the RAT was evaluated using the results of qRT-PCR as a reference.Results: A total of 223 patients were included in this study, and the real-time RT-PCR detected SARS-CoV-2 in 84 (37.7%) patients. Of these 84 patients, 9 (10.7%) were asymptomatic. The overall sensitivity and specificity of RATs were 78.6% and 99.3%, respectively. The sensitivity was 81.3% in symptomatic cases and 55.6% in asymptomatic cases. False-negatives were observed in 18 patients, 3 of whom were asymptomatic and had a low viral load (cycle threshold (Ct) > 30). The detection rate of RATs was 100% when the Ct value was up to 24. The detection rate was 42.3% when the Ct was >29. The detection rate of RATs was 92.3% when the onset of symptoms was within three days. The detection rate was 33.3% when the onset of symptoms was >7 days.Conclusions: RATs for COVID-19 used in this study delivered an acceptable performance in patients with high viral load and within the first week of the onset of symptoms. They can be used as a supplementary method to RT-PCR for the diagnosis of COVID-19 patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
Hoang Vu Mai Phuong ◽  
Ung Thi Hong Trang ◽  
Nguyen Vu Son ◽  
Le Thi Thanh ◽  
Nguyen Le Khanh Hang ◽  
...  

From January to August 2020, Northern Viet Nam faced a COVID-19 outbreak, up to September 2020, there were 1122 confrmed cases of SARS-CoV-2, of which 465 cases were imported from Europe, America and Asia, 657 cases were identifed domestically. A total of 30,686 samples were collected during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Northern Viet Nam and examined by Real-time RT-PCR using primers and probe from Charite - Berlin protocol. This study showed the initial results of SARS-CoV-2 detection and RNA quantitative in positive samples. The positive rate was 0.8%, ranging from 0.4 to 3.5% according to collection sites. Out of 251 positive samples, the mean Ct value was 28 (IQR: 22.3-32; range 14 - 38). The positive samples had a Ct value below 30 was 68.5%, there was no signifcant difference between the Ct value of the group ≤ 30 and > 30. The mean of the RNA copies/µl was 8.4.107, (IQR: 2.29.106 - 1.83.109 RNA copies/µl, range: 1.95.103 – 4.95.1011). In the group of imported COVID-19 cases, the rate of virus at low level was 29%, an average was 56% and at high level was 15%. In the community groups, the viral load data showed that the average rate at low, intermediate and high level were 20%, 63% and 17% respectively. The proportion of high-level viral load may raise an alert to start the quarantine process to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inne Nauwelaers ◽  
Tiina Talts ◽  
Monica Galiano ◽  
Peter Openshaw

Abstract Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common virus that can cause bronchiolitis in infants and pneumonia in immunocompromised and elderly people. RSV belongs to the Pneumoviridae family and consists of a genome of 15 kb. Its genome contains ten genes that code for eleven proteins, with M2 coding for two different proteins in overlapping open reading frames. It is unclear why some infected children have severe disease and others have mild or asymptomatic disease. In this project, methods for complete genome sequencing of RSV via Sanger and Illumina MiSeq platforms were optimized. One hundred and twenty-four community samples (59 RSV A and 65 RSV B) from 2014 to 2018 were collected (in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners) and sequenced. Samples were selected based on viral load (e.g. Ct values had to be < 30). The genotype of each sample was determined by constructing phylogenetic trees with reference sequences from all genotypes. Trees were reconstructed using the maximum likelihood method. Furthermore, Illumina sequencing was used to deep sequence seven community samples and four hospital samples that were spatiotemporally matched (obtained via Imperial College NHS Trust hospitals). Variants were studied to investigate if certain variants influence disease severity (e.g. cause mild (community samples) or severe infection (hospital samples)). Analysis so far showed that ON1 (with a seventy-two nucleotide duplication in attachment protein G) is the most common genotype in both community and hospitalized samples (90% and 75% of samples, respectively), with GA2 (without duplication) as the next most common genotype for RSV A subtypes (7% and 25%). Three per cent of community samples were of the GA5 genotype. Samples from the RSV B subgroup all belong to the BA genotypes with a 60-nucleotide duplication in G. Samples that were selected for Illumina sequencing had a Ct value between 19.0 and 29.1, while hospital samples had a Ct value of 18.3 to 29.1. Viral load, therefore, did not explain disease severity in these selected samples. The Shannon entropy from Illumina sequenced samples averaged at 22.78 in community samples (ranges from 15 to 28) and 38.78 in hospitalized samples (ranges from 31 to 57). This indicated that diversity of the virus pool might influence disease severity; however, more samples need to be analyzed. There are no specific variants that could explain disease severity. Diversity of the virus pool could explain the link between higher viral loads and disease severity, which is sometimes found but cannot always be confirmed. Higher viral loads can harbor more diverse viral particles compared to lower viral loads. Future work will focus on more in-depth variation and diversity analysis and on evolutionary analysis of both community and hospital samples. We will also investigate intra-host evolution of RSV in acute infections using consecutive samples and its possible implications on the host response.


2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake W Buchan ◽  
Jessica S Hoff ◽  
Cameron G Gmehlin ◽  
Adriana Perez ◽  
Matthew L Faron ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives We examined the distribution of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold (CT) values obtained from symptomatic patients being evaluated for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to determine the proportion of specimens containing a viral load near the assay limit of detection (LoD) to gain practical insight to the risk of false-negative results. We also examined the relationship between CT value and patient age to determine any age-dependent difference in viral load or test sensitivity. Methods We collected CT values obtained from the cobas severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay corresponding to 1,213 combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals that were reported as positive or presumptive positive for SARS-CoV-2. CT values were stratified by SARS-CoV target and patient age group. Results In total, 93.3% to 98.4% of specimens demonstrated CT values greater than 3× the assay LoD, at which point false-negative results would not be expected. The mean of CT values between age groups was statistically equivalent with the exception of patients in age group 80 to 89 years, which demonstrated slightly lower CTs. Conclusions Based on the distribution of observed CT values, including the small proportion of specimens with values near the assay LoD, there is a low risk of false-negative RT-PCR results in combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Liao ◽  
Yong Zhao ◽  
Luxin Wang

ABSTRACT This study developed RNA-based predictive models describing the survival of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) during storage at 0, 4, and 10°C. Postharvested oysters were inoculated with a cocktail of five V. parahaemolyticus strains and were then stored at 0, 4, and 10°C for 21 or 11 days. A real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay targeting expression of the tlh gene was used to evaluate the number of surviving V. parahaemolyticus cells, which was then used to establish primary molecular models (MMs). Before construction of the MMs, consistent expression levels of the tlh gene at 0, 4, and 10°C were confirmed, and this gene was used to monitor the survival of the total V. parahaemolyticus cells. In addition, the tdh and trh genes were used for monitoring the survival of virulent V. parahaemolyticus. Traditional models (TMs) were built based on data collected using a plate counting method. From the MMs, V. parahaemolyticus populations had decreased 0.493, 0.362, and 0.238 log10 CFU/g by the end of storage at 0, 4, and 10°C, respectively. Rates of reduction of V. parahaemolyticus shown in the TMs were 2.109, 1.579, and 0.894 log10 CFU/g for storage at 0, 4, and 10°C, respectively. Bacterial inactivation rates (IRs) estimated with the TMs (−0.245, −0.152, and −0.121 log10 CFU/day, respectively) were higher than those estimated with the MMs (−0.134, −0.0887, and −0.0732 log10 CFU/day, respectively) for storage at 0, 4, and 10°C. Higher viable V. parahaemolyticus numbers were predicted using the MMs than using the TMs. On the basis of this study, RNA-based predictive MMs are the more accurate and reliable models and can prevent false-negative results compared to TMs. IMPORTANCE One important method for validating postharvest techniques and for monitoring the behavior of V. parahaemolyticus is to establish predictive models. Unfortunately, previous predictive models established based on plate counting methods or on DNA-based PCR can underestimate or overestimate the number of surviving cells. This study developed and validated RNA-based molecular predictive models to describe the survival of V. parahaemolyticus in oysters during low-temperature storage (0, 4, and 10°C). The RNA-based predictive models show the advantage of being able to count all of the culturable, nonculturable, and stressed cells. By using primers targeting the tlh gene and pathogenesis-associated genes (tdh and trh), real-time RT-PCR can evaluate the total surviving V. parahaemolyticus population as well as differentiate the pathogenic ones from the total population. Reliable and accurate predictive models are very important for conducting risk assessment and management of pathogens in food.


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