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. 2022 Aug 24;75(1):e289-e292.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac237.

High Asymptomatic Carriage With the Omicron Variant in South Africa

Nigel Garrett  1 , Asa Tapley  2   3 , Jessica Andriesen  2 , Ishen Seocharan  4 , Leigh H Fisher  2 , Lisa Bunts  2 , Nicole Espy  2 , Carole L Wallis  5 , April Kaur Randhawa  2 , Maurine D Miner  2 , Nzeera Ketter  2 , Margaret Yacovone  6 , Ameena Goga  4   7 , Yunda Huang  2   8 , John Hural  2 , Philip Kotze  9 , Linda Gail Bekker  10 , Glenda E Gray  4 , Lawrence Corey  2 ; Ubuntu Study Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

High Asymptomatic Carriage With the Omicron Variant in South Africa

Nigel Garrett et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

We report a 23% asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) Omicron carriage rate in participants being enrolled into a clinical trial in South Africa, 15-fold higher than in trials before Omicron. We also found lower CD4 + T-cell counts in persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) strongly correlated with increased odds of being SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive.

Keywords: Omicron variant; PWH; SARS-CoV-2; South Africa; asymptomatic carriage.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A, Percent of PWH positive for SARS-CoV-2 PCR (blue) among those with CD4 + T-cell counts ≥500 and <500 cells/mm3. Error bars show 95% CI. Actual numbers of individuals in each group are displayed on the bar graphs. B, Probability of PCR positivity by CD4 + T-cell count among PWH. Dots display observed data in baseline seronegative (purple) and seropositive (green) asymptomatic study participants. Positive and negative PCR results are plotted around 1 and 0 with a small vertical offset by serostatus for clarity. Lines and shaded regions display the estimated probability of positive PCR and corresponding 95% CIs, respectively. Logistic regression was used to model the probability of PCR positivity by CD4 count, adjusting for baseline serostatus. Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; PWH, people with human immunodeficiency virus; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
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References

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Publication types

Supplementary concepts