Association of high SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia with diabetes and mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Abstract

It has been suggested that during the period of respiratory worsening of severe COVID-19 patients, viral replication plays a less important role than inflammation. Using the droplet-based digital PCR (ddPCR) for precise quantification of plasma SARS-CoV-2 viral load (SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia), we investigated the relationship between plasma viral load, comorbidities, and mortality of 122 critically ill COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia was detected by ddPCR in 90 (74%) patients, ranging from 70 to 213,152 copies per mL. A high (>1 000 copies/ml) or very high (>10,000 copies/ml) SARS-Cov-2 RNAemia was observed in 46 patients (38%), of which 26 were diabetic. Diabetes was independently associated with a higher SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia. In multivariable logistic regression models, SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia was strongly and independently associated with day-60 mortality. Early initiation of antiviral therapies might be considered in COVID-19 critically ill patients with high RNAemia.

• Authors: Mehran Monchi, Thomas Bruneau, Sebastien Jochmans, David Veyer, Aurelia Pitsch, Olivier Ellrodt, Marie Picque, Valérie Taly, Oumar Sy, Sandie Mazerand, Sylvain Diamantis, Hélène Péré
• Journal: iScience (iScience) Vol. 25 Issue 5 Pg. 104075 (May 20 2022) ISSN: 2589-0042 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 35309726 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2022.