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. 2004 Jan;10(1):20-4.
doi: 10.3201/eid1001.030404.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus in lung tissue

Tony Mazzulli  1 , Gabriella A Farcas, Susan M Poutanen, Barbara M Willey, Donald E Low, Jagdish Butany, Sylvia L Asa, Kevin C Kain
Affiliations

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus in lung tissue

Tony Mazzulli et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004 Jan.

Abstract

Efforts to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have been limited by the lack of a standardized, sensitive, and specific test for SARS-associated coronavirus (CoV). We used a standardized reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay to detect SARS-CoV in lung samples obtained from well-characterized patients who died of SARS and from those who died of other reasons. SARS-CoV was detected in all 22 postmortem lung tissues (to 10(9) viral copies/g) from 11 patients with probable SARS but was not detected in any of the 23 lung control samples (sample analysis was blinded). The sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval) were 100% (84.6% to 100%) and 100% (85.1% to 100%), respectively. Viral loads were significantly associated with a shorter course of illness but not with the use of ribavirin or steroids. CoV was consistently identified in the lungs of all patients who died of SARS but not in control patients, supporting a primary role for CoV in deaths.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
RealArt HPA-Coronavirus LightCycler (RealArt HPA Coronavirus RT-PCR) reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Assay results. PCR results from 5 μL RNA are displayed in channel F1/F2 of the LightCycler instrument (A). Four quantification standards are included in the assay to generate a standard curve (B). An internal control, added at the RNA isolation stage, is used to monitor both the quality of the RNA isolation as well as possible PCR inhibition (C).
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