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S-Variant SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B1.1.7 Is Associated With Significantly Higher Viral Load in Samples Tested by TaqPath
Michael Kidd1,2, Alex Richter3, Angus Best4
1Public Health England, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
A SARS-CoV-2 variant B1.1.7 containing mutation Δ69/70 has spread rapidly in the United Kingdom and shows an identifiable profile in ThermoFisher TaqPath RT-qPCR, S gene target failure (SGTF). We analyzed recent test data for trends and significance. Linked cycle threshold (Ct) values for respiratory samples showed that a low Ct for ORF1ab and N were clearly associated with SGTF. Significantly more SGTF samples had higher inferred viral loads between 1×107 and 1×108. Our conclusion is that patients whose samples exhibit the SGTF profile are more likely to have high viral loads, which may explain higher infectivity and rapidity of spread.
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