Association of Viral Load in SARS-CoV-2 Patients With Age and Gender.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global public health emergency. Age and sex are two important factors associated with risks and outcomes of various diseases. COVID-19 morbidity also seems to be affected by patient age and sex. It has been found that older age groups have more severe COVID-19 symptoms and higher fatality rates while children tend to have lower prevalence and milder symptoms than adults. The study reviewed electronic medical records of COVID-19 patients from Madinah city, Saudi Arabia. The study included all cases who tested positive ( = 3,006) between March 20 and May 22, 2020. Data were obtained from the Health Electronic Surveillance Network (HESN) database. Approximately 80% of the study sample were males and half were in the 30-40-year-old age group. The Ct value of the whole sample ranged from 15.08 to 35, with a mean of 27.44 (SD: 5.23; 95% C.I. = 27.25-27.66). The means of Ct values varied between age groups from 27.05 to 27.82. Analysis of the mean differences between age groups using one-way ANOVA indicated no statistically significant difference among the groups (F = 1.63; -value = 0.135). A comparison of mean Ct values of males ( = 2,422) and females ( = 584) revealed that males had a statistically significant higher mean Ct value (27.61 ± 5.20) than females (26.72 ± 5.31). The difference between the means of the two groups was -0.89 (95% C.I. = -1.36 to -0.42; -test -3.71; df = 3,004; -value < 0.001). The study found no statistically significant difference in viral loads between age groups. It showed that females had a higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load compared to males. The findings have implications for preventive strategies. Further studies are needed to correlate viral load with clinical symptoms and outcomes.