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. 2022 Aug;2(3):100085.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2022.100085. Epub 2022 May 21.

Duration of COVID-19 PCR positivity for Omicron vs earlier variants

N Kojima  1 , A Roshani  2 , J D Klausner  3
Affiliations

Duration of COVID-19 PCR positivity for Omicron vs earlier variants

N Kojima et al. J Clin Virol Plus. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

There have been reports that the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is milder and may resolve more quickly than earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2, like the Delta variant. Due to a dearth of studies on duration of PCR positivity for the Omicron variant, we studied this question in a cohort of routinely tested employees that work in a large laboratory. We found that there was no difference in duration of PCR positivity among those infected with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 versus earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2. That suggests in a clinical study that the increased infectiousness of Omicron might likely be due to factors related to viral and host cell interactions, rather than viral load or duration of infectivity, which has been suggested in immune escape studies.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; Prior infection; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

NK is a consultant for Curative. AR is employed by Curative. JDK is an independent consultant and serves as the Medical Director of Curative.

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