Is the Alpha Variant of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with a Higher Viral Load than the Historical Strain in Saliva Samples in Patients with Mild to Moderate Symptoms?
Camille Bonnet,
Shirley Masse,
Hayat Benamar,
Ana-Maria Vilcu,
Morgane Swital,
Thomas Hanslik,
Sylvie van der Werf,
Xavier Duval,
Fabrice Carrat,
Alessandra Falchi,
Thierry Blanchon
Affiliations
Camille Bonnet
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Shirley Masse
UR7310 Bioscope, Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, 20250 Corte, France
Hayat Benamar
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Ana-Maria Vilcu
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Morgane Swital
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Thomas Hanslik
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Sylvie van der Werf
Institut Pasteur, Université de Paris, Molecular Genetics of RNA viruses Unit, CNRS UMR 3569, F-75015 Paris, France
Xavier Duval
Centre d’Investigation Clinique, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, INSERM CIC 1425, F-75018 Paris, France
Fabrice Carrat
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
Alessandra Falchi
UR7310 Bioscope, Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, 20250 Corte, France
Thierry Blanchon
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (IPLESP), 75012 Paris, France
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several generic variants emerged, including the Alpha variant, with increased transmissibility compared to historical strains. We aimed to compare the evolution of the viral load between patients infected with the Alpha variant and those infected with the historical SARS-CoV-2 strains, while taking into account the time interval between the onset of symptoms and samples. We used data collected from patients with an acute respiratory infection (mild to moderate symptoms) and seen in consultation in primary care, included in a prospective longitudinal study, COVID-A. Patients performed four salivary samples during the follow-up. All patients who had at least one of the saliva samples test positive for SARS-CoV-2 were included in the analysis. Overall, 118 patients were included: 89 infected by the historical strain and 29 infected by the Alpha variant. Even though we tended to observe a higher viral load in the Alpha variant group, we found no significant difference in the evolution of the viral load in saliva samples between patients infected with the Alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 and those infected by historical strains when controlling for the time interval between the onset of symptoms and sampling.