Association of Cycle Threshold (Ct) Values of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR with Disease Severity and Symptoms among COVID-19 Patients in Ghadamis, Libya | ||
| Infection Epidemiology and Microbiology | ||
| Article 5, Volume 10, Issue 4, 2024, Pages 309-317 PDF (507.21 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Research | ||
| DOI: 10.61186/iem.10.4.309 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Ghassan Tayh* 1; Asma Elramli2; Siham R Agouri3; Elmundr Abughnia4; Naila Y Abdulrahman5; Abdulghafar A Shihab6; Hafsa A Alemam7 | ||
| 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Manouba, LR16AGR01, 2020 Sidi Thabet, Ariana, Tunisia. | ||
| 2Department of Medical Technology, College of Science and Technology - Qaminis, Benghazi, Libya | ||
| 3Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Benghazi, Libya. | ||
| 4Department Tissue culture plant at Libya Center for Biotechnology Research, Tripoli, Libya. | ||
| 5Head of internal medical department in Ghadamis general hospital, Libya. | ||
| 6National Center of Disease Control (NCDC) Ghadmes, Libya | ||
| 7Department of Environment food, and Biological Application, at Libya Center for Biotechnology Research, Tripoli, Libya. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: This study aimed to assess the relationship between cycle threshold (Ct) values and disease severity, symptoms, and comorbidities in COVID-19-positive individuals. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on COVID-19 patients who were admitted to General Ghadamis hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19 from August 2020 to 2021. The association between Ct values and symptoms, demographic characteristics, and clinical characteristics was analyzed by SPSS analysis. Findings: A total of 286 patients were included in this study, of whom 53.5% were female, and 46.5% were male, with a median age of 53 years (range: 1–90 years). Among symptomatic individuals, 51.4% had severe COVID-19 symptoms, and 26.6% had mild symptoms. Severe systemic symptoms were significantly associated with older age groups. The majority of elderly patients (66%) exhibited low Ct values (Ct ≤ 24), indicating a high viral load. Additionally, 64.6 and 40.8% of patients with severe and mild symptoms had low Ct values. Symptoms varied significantly across patients with low, medium, and high Ct values. There was a strong correlation between lower Ct values and the presence of comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular accident, and cancer. Conclusion: Compared to asymptomatic individuals, most symptomatic patients with severe and mild symptoms had significantly lower Ct values. These findings highlight the critical role of viral load in SARS-CoV-2 progression and suggest that Ct values could be used to predict the spread of infection in the community. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| SARS-CoV-2; Covid-19; COVID-19 severity; Comorbidities; Viral load; Coronavirus infections; Infection severity | ||
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