What underlies differing disease severity in COVID-19?

New Rochelle, NY, April 29, 2020–Researchers have reported a significant and positive relationship between the amount of virus present in a throat swab sample and the severity of COVID disease. The higher the relative viral load in the sample, the greater the organ damage, and the longer it would take for the viral RNA count to turn negative, according to the results published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Viral Immunology website through May 30, 2020.

In “Correlation Between Relative Nasopharyngeal Virus RNA Load and Lymphocyte Count Disease Severity in Patients with COVID-19” Wei Zhang and coauthors from The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (Jiangxi, China), collected nasopharyngeal samples from patients with mild and severe COVID-19. They measured the level of viral RNA in the sample, also known as the viral load. Viral load correlated positively with the severity of disease symptoms and with increased inflammatory factors. There was a negative correlation between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and lymphocytes, such as CD4+ and CD8+T lymphocytes, which fight infection.

David L. Woodland, PhD, Editor-in Chief of Viral Immunology and Adjunct Member of the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, NY, states: “We currently have only a limited understanding of why some patients with the SARS-CoV-2 virus develop severe, life-threatening symptoms, whereas others do not. In this paper, Zhang and colleagues present data correlating viral loads in the nasopharynx with disease severity and progression. These important findings potentially offer medical professionals with crucial information when deciding on treatment options for COVID-19 patients.”

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Viral Immunology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published ten times a year in print and online. Topics cover both human and animal viral immunology, exploring viral-based immunological diseases, pathogenic mechanisms, and virus-associated tumor and cancer immunology. The Journal includes original research papers, review articles, and commentaries covering the spectrum of laboratory and clinical research and exploring developments in vaccines and diagnostics targeting viral infections. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Viral Immunology website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research), including Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, and Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.