Original Research Article
Year: 2023 | Month: February | Volume: 13 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 8-13
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20230202
Association between Upper Respiratory Tract Viral Load and Comorbidities of Patients with COVID-19
Ruvaida Reyaz1, Konika Razdan2, Nazia Asghar3, Shashi S. Sharma4
1,2,3Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College Jammu, India
4Prof & Head Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College Jammu, P.I. & Nodal Officer, VRDL ICMR/DHR, J&K 180001, India
Corresponding Author: Shashi S. Sharma
ABSTRACT
Following the emergence and global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Real-time RT-PCR is considered the gold standard confirmatory test for COVID-19. 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. Ct values play a crucial role in interpreting viral load and disease severity. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed 756 lab confirmed COVID-19 positive patients. The patients were categorized into three groups, those having high (Ct value <25), moderate (Ct value 25-30), or low URT viral load (Ct value >30). Our study showed that patients with high URT viral load were significantly older. Also, patients with high URT viral load had at least one comorbidity compared to patients with moderate or low URT viral load.
Key words: COVID-19, Viral Load, Co-morbidities, SARS CoV-2