Volume 22, Number 10—October 2016
Dispatch
Viral RNA in Blood as Indicator of Severe Outcome in Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection
Table 2
Differences in Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus detection by rRT-PCR among specimen types, South Korea, 2015*
Characteristic |
Respiratory specimen type |
Blood specimen type | |
---|---|---|---|
EDTA whole blood |
Serum |
||
No. specimens |
20 sputum; 1 endotracheal aspirate |
21 |
21 |
Days from initial confirmatory diagnosis using respiratory specimens to blood sampling |
Set as day 0 |
1.4 (median 1,
range 0–5) |
1.5 (median 1,
range 0–5) |
Viral gene region rRT-PCR | |||
Upstream of E | |||
Total positive results/total tests (%) | 21/21 (100) | 6/21 (29) | 6/21 (29) |
Median Ct (range) | 28.48 (19.70–33.46)† | 37.55 (35.34–38.07) | 36.88 (34.24–38.14) |
Open reading frame 1a | |||
Total positive results/total tests (%) | 21/21 (100) | 0/21 (0) | 0/21 (0) |
Median Ct (range) | 29.28 (21.00–34.21)† | Not detected | Not detected |
Nucleocapsid | |||
Total positive results/total tests (%) | Not performed | 7/21 (33) | 7/21 (33) |
Median Ct (range) | Not performed | 36.37 (35.62–38.04) | 34.62 (32.93–38.84) |
*Ct, cycle threshold; rRT-PCR, real-time reverse transcription PCR.
†One patient whose Ct was not reported was excluded.