Kim Z, Lee JH. Coinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 and other respiratory viruses at a tertiary hospital in Korea.
J Clin Lab Anal 2021;
35:e23868. [PMID:
34273182 PMCID:
PMC8373349 DOI:
10.1002/jcla.23868]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Studies have reported coinfection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), the cause of coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19), with other viruses that cause respiratory tract infections (RTIs). We investigated the coinfection rate of SARS‐CoV‐2 and other RTI‐causing viruses, and whether the cycle threshold (Ct) value of a real‐time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT‐PCR) differed when the coinfection occurred during the first wave of COVID‐19 in Daegu, Republic of Korea, in 2020.
Methods
After performing PCR for SARS‐CoV‐2, we additionally tested for the presence of RTI‐causing viruses to check for coinfection. Subsequently, we identified the specific coexisting respiratory viruses and calculated the coinfection rate. In addition, based on the coinfection status, we compared the Ct values obtained from RT‐PCR for SARS‐CoV‐2 in patients who tested positive for COVID‐19 PCR.
Results
Of 13,717 patients, 123 had positive results on COVID‐19 PCR testing and six tested positive for an RTI‐causing virus. Thus, the coinfection rate was 4.9%. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean Ct values of SARS‐CoV‐2 RT‐PCR between coinfected and non‐coinfected patients.
Conclusion
This study computed the coinfection rate of SARS‐CoV‐2 and RTI‐causing viruses and revealed that the mean Ct values in SARS‐CoV‐2 real‐time RT‐PCR did not differ according to the coinfection status.
Collapse