Relations between viral load, antibody levels and COVID-19 severity are not well studied and results from such investigations are controversial. In this study, we investigated kinetics of viral load and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 20 patients with COVID-19 and analysed the association with disease severity. The patients were followed on weekly basis within the first month after the onset and then once per month for the next 4 months. Serum samples were tested for IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using ELISA tests. SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was measured by quantitative Realtime RT-PCR. For vast majority of the patients, the viral loads were at their highest levels at presentation and then declined gradually. Despite development of specific antibody response 7-11 days after the onset of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was still detected in nasopharyngeal swabs of most of the patients. There was no direct link between viral load and severity of COVID-19: some of mild and some of severe cases started with a high viral load. There was a relationship between the time from the onset of the disease and the viral load: the highest viral load was in the first days. In more severe cases, there was a tendency for slower reduction in viral load and longer detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Levels of the specific antibodies increased earlier and to higher levels and were present for longer time in patients with more severe manifestations of COVID-19 than in those with milder disease.
%0 Journal Article
%1 iva_christova_2021_5516963
%A Christova, Iva
%A Trifonova, Iva
%A Gladnishka, Teodora
%A Dragusheva, Elena
%A Popov, Georgi
%A Ivanova, Vladislava
%D 2021
%J GSC Advanced Research and Reviews
%K SARS-CoV-2
%N 3
%P 010-018
%R 10.30574/gscarr.2021.8.3.0180
%T Viral load and antibody levels in patients with COVID-19
%U https://gsconlinepress.com/journals/gscarr/content/viral-load-and-antibody-levels-patients-covid-19
%V 8
%X Relations between viral load, antibody levels and COVID-19 severity are not well studied and results from such investigations are controversial. In this study, we investigated kinetics of viral load and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 20 patients with COVID-19 and analysed the association with disease severity. The patients were followed on weekly basis within the first month after the onset and then once per month for the next 4 months. Serum samples were tested for IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using ELISA tests. SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was measured by quantitative Realtime RT-PCR. For vast majority of the patients, the viral loads were at their highest levels at presentation and then declined gradually. Despite development of specific antibody response 7-11 days after the onset of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was still detected in nasopharyngeal swabs of most of the patients. There was no direct link between viral load and severity of COVID-19: some of mild and some of severe cases started with a high viral load. There was a relationship between the time from the onset of the disease and the viral load: the highest viral load was in the first days. In more severe cases, there was a tendency for slower reduction in viral load and longer detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Levels of the specific antibodies increased earlier and to higher levels and were present for longer time in patients with more severe manifestations of COVID-19 than in those with milder disease.
@article{iva_christova_2021_5516963,
abstract = {Relations between viral load, antibody levels and COVID-19 severity are not well studied and results from such investigations are controversial. In this study, we investigated kinetics of viral load and antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 20 patients with COVID-19 and analysed the association with disease severity. The patients were followed on weekly basis within the first month after the onset and then once per month for the next 4 months. Serum samples were tested for IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using ELISA tests. SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was measured by quantitative Realtime RT-PCR. For vast majority of the patients, the viral loads were at their highest levels at presentation and then declined gradually. Despite development of specific antibody response 7-11 days after the onset of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was still detected in nasopharyngeal swabs of most of the patients. There was no direct link between viral load and severity of COVID-19: some of mild and some of severe cases started with a high viral load. There was a relationship between the time from the onset of the disease and the viral load: the highest viral load was in the first days. In more severe cases, there was a tendency for slower reduction in viral load and longer detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Levels of the specific antibodies increased earlier and to higher levels and were present for longer time in patients with more severe manifestations of COVID-19 than in those with milder disease.},
added-at = {2021-09-28T10:27:27.000+0200},
author = {Christova, Iva and Trifonova, Iva and Gladnishka, Teodora and Dragusheva, Elena and Popov, Georgi and Ivanova, Vladislava},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/25d5902ac33c7992f11017a52b69f3333/gscarrjournal},
doi = {10.30574/gscarr.2021.8.3.0180},
interhash = {64efe5e1f77463baccae9e6dc142d8a1},
intrahash = {5d5902ac33c7992f11017a52b69f3333},
issn = {2582-4597},
journal = {GSC Advanced Research and Reviews},
keywords = {SARS-CoV-2},
month = sep,
number = 3,
pages = {010-018},
timestamp = {2021-09-28T10:27:27.000+0200},
title = {Viral load and antibody levels in patients with COVID-19},
url = {https://gsconlinepress.com/journals/gscarr/content/viral-load-and-antibody-levels-patients-covid-19},
volume = 8,
year = 2021
}