Fascinating study @nature on #SARSCoV2 virology. So many nuggets, so here goes a thread... #COVID19

The key message for me was no live virus recovered from swabs 8 days after symptom onset. And there was a relationship between viral load & viability
#disqus_thread">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2196-x #disqus_thread">https://www.nature.com/articles/...

This is a very big deal. Implications for infection control in hospitals, discharging patients back to residential / nursing homes and duration of self-isolation. (NB, patients in study had relatively mild disease).

Related, no virus was detected at all from urine and serum samples. Important implications for lab safety (i.e. those specimens are safe to handle)

Study also shows yet more data to support highest upper respiratory tract viral loads in #COVID19 at the beginning of illness.

This kinetics of virus replication in the upper respiratory tract is again sharply contrasted to that seen in SARS: https://twitter.com/gpollara/status/1230528292610019328?s=20">https://twitter.com/gpollara/...

The issue of stool remains a mystery. Very high level of RNA in stool for weeks after symptom onset. And yet no live virus was recoverable. Could it be an important form of person to person transmission in patients with more severe disease?