Infants Younger Than 6 Months Infected With SARS-CoV-2 Show the Highest Respiratory Viral Loads

J Infect Dis. 2022 Feb 1;225(3):392-395. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab577.

Abstract

There is a paucity of reports on the characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in infants, because most studies have grouped infants with older children. We analyzed the viral loads of 45318 SARS-CoV-2-positive nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Infants younger than 6 months presented higher viral loads than any other age group. Children older than 6 months showed significantly lower viral loads, similar to those founds in adults. This observation raises new questions regarding the role of infants in the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: 19; 2; COVID; CoV; SARS; children; viral load.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Argentina / epidemiology
  • COVID-19* / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Respiratory System / virology*
  • SARS-CoV-2* / isolation & purification
  • Viral Load*