Clinical Significance of a High SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in the Saliva

Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can unknowingly spread the virus to several people during the early subclinical period. We evaluated the viral dynamics in various body fluid specimens, such as nasopharyngeal swab, oropharyngeal swab, saliva, sputum, and urine specimens, of two pati...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Korean medical science 2020, 35(20), , pp.1-6
Main Authors: Yoon, Jin Gu, Yoon, Jung, Song, Joon Young, Yoon, Soo Young, Lim, Chae Seung, Seong, Hye, Noh, Ji Yun, Cheong, Hee Jin, Kim, Woo Joo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification
Clinical Laboratory Techniques
Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections - virology
COVID-19
COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19 Vaccines
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Original
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - virology
Saliva - virology
SARS-CoV-2
Viral Load
의학일반
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can unknowingly spread the virus to several people during the early subclinical period. We evaluated the viral dynamics in various body fluid specimens, such as nasopharyngeal swab, oropharyngeal swab, saliva, sputum, and urine specimens, of two patients with COVID-19 from hospital day 1 to 9. Additional samples of the saliva were taken at 1 hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours after using a chlorhexidine mouthwash. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load was determined by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). SARS-CoV-2 was detected from all the five specimens of both patients by rRT-PCR. The viral load was the highest in the nasopharynx (patient 1 = 8.41 log copies/mL; patient 2 = 7.49 log copies/mL), but it was also remarkably high in the saliva (patient 1 = 6.63 log copies/mL; patient 2 = 7.10 log copies/mL). SARS-CoV-2 was detected up to hospital day 6 (illness day 9 for patient 2) from the saliva of both patients. The viral load in the saliva decreased transiently for 2 hours after using the chlorhexidine mouthwash. SARS-CoV-2 viral load was consistently high in the saliva; it was relatively higher than that in the oropharynx during the early stage of COVID-19. Chlorhexidine mouthwash was effective in reducing the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the saliva for a short-term period.
ISSN:1011-8934
1598-6357
DOI:10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e195