title: Viral loads in clinical specimens and SARS manifestations.
abstract: 1. A high viral load in nasopharyngeal aspirate (with or without a high viral load in serum) is a useful prognostic indicator of respiratory failure or mortality. The presence of viral RNA in multiple body sites is also indicative of poor prognosis. 2. Early treatment with an effective antiviral agent before day 10 may decrease the peak viral load, and thus ameliorate the clinical symptoms and mortality, and reduce viral shedding and the risk of transmission
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital Compound, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. ivanhung@hku.hk
authors.forename: I F N
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: S K P
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: P C Y
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yuen
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology; D011379:Prognosis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology; D013997:Time Factors; D019562:Viral Load; D017201:Virus Shedding / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral