From 16 March to 15 December 2020, 132,357 naso-pharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs were collected in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo Region, Italy, and tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA by a commercially available molecular assay. A total of 12,880 swabs resulted positive. For 8212 positive patients (4.150 women and 4.062 men) the median age was statistically different between women (median: 49.55 ± 23.9 of SD) and men (median: 48.35 ± 23.5 of SD) while no differences were found in the comparison between the cycle threshold for the N protein-encoding gene (C T N) median values and gender. Differences were observed in the C T N gene median values of swabs collected from March to September as well as in the pairwise comparison between September and October and between November and December. The C T N gene median values observed in specific periods characterizing the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in 2020 were also compared with the incidence of COVID-19 cases; a strong inverse correlation was highlighted (Pearson correlation coefficient = −0.978). Our findings confirm the usefulness of the C T N values as an indirect detection parameter to monitor viral loads in the population.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, cycle threshold, Abruzzo, Naso-pharyngeal swab, viral circulation, 【초록키워드】 Gender, Italy, Epidemic, Region, Viral load, age, Swab, women, molecular, N gene, genomic RNA, no difference, Pairwise comparison, inverse correlation, positive, median value, MONITOR, parameter, Pearson correlation coefficient, men, difference, tested, collected, positive patient, statistically, incidence of COVID-19, the median, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2 RNA, dynamic, Significance,