DOI: 10.5061/dryad.15dv41nwm
title: SARS-CoV-2 Viral dynamics

description: Background: Cases of undiagnosed pneumonia have emerged, and sequencing of
 respiratory samples indicated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 causing
 COVID-19. Patients with higher viral load and lower Ct values
 tend to have progressive disease and severe lung injury. The objective of
 this study is to describe the clinical manifestation and disease outcomes
 of COVID-19 patients in relation to their Ct values. Methods:
 A retrospective, single-center observational study was performed,
 including patients admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital and
 Research Centre (KFSH&RC) Riyadh in one month in 2020 and have a
 confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. The Ct value was identified to determine
 the viral load. All patients were treated according to KFSH&RC
 guidelines. Patients were divided into HCQ/AZI and non HCQ/AZI
 treated groups. Results: There were many days where
 Ct values were not available. An attempt at imputing information
 for missing Ct values was made using logic. The logic leads to an
 ordinal Ct score 1, 2, 3, or 4. As a result, complete
 Ct score profiles were available. There was no evidence of
 statistically significant difference between the two groups in regard to
 clinical severity, duration to negative test, or changes in Ct
 values.  Conclusion: There is little knowledge known to the time
 profile of Ct values and their relation to disease course of COVID-19.
 This study provides insight on how Ct values might be used to determine
 treatment efficacy. As it might be difficult to obtain Ct values at all
 times, this study provides an imputation method that may be used with
 conservative statistical assumptions for analyses of Ct
 profiles. 
description: A retrospective,
 single-center observational study was undertaken and included all patients
 who were admitted to KFSH&RC-Riyadh in one month in 2020 and had a
 confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 based on a positive PCR taken from a
 respiratory sample.  The study was approved by the policies and guidelines
 for clinical research at KFSH&RC and the KFSH&RC-Riyadh
 Institutional Review Board (IRB) with a RAC number RAC # 2201054. As this
 is a retrospective study, consent to participate from patients was waived
 by the IRB. All but two patients were followed
 for a total duration of 14 days after the initial diagnosis. Repeat PCR
 results were sought during data abstraction for days 3, 7, 10, and 14. The
 Ct value was identified on the obtained samples. All patients were treated
 according to KFSH&RC treatment guidelines (as detailed
 below). Epidemiological, demographic,
 clinical, laboratory, treatment administered, and outcome of the disease
 data were obtained from the patient’s electronic medical records. All data
 were entered in a password-protected database developed using the Research
 Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) version 9.4 software. The Ct values on
 admission and follow-up samples were obtained from the microbiology
 laboratory. As
 hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZI) were one of the commonly
 used regimens for treatment, we divided
 our cohort into HCQ/AZI and non-HCQ/AZI
 treated groups.
description: NA is a non-available value.