iScience (May 2022)

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

  • 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 volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 5
p. 104075

Abstract

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Summary: 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.

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