Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

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).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Update: outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome—worldwide, 2003. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003;52:241–6. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus never before seen in humans is the cause of SARS—update 31. Geneva: The Organization; 2003.
    1. Updated interim surveillance case definition for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)—United States, April 29, 2003. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2003;52:391–3. - PubMed
    1. Peiris JSM, Chu CM, Cheng VCC, Chan KS, Hung IFN, Poon LLM, et al. Clinical progression and viral load in a community outbreak of coronavirus-associated SARS pneumonia: a prospective study. Lancet. 2003;361:1767–72. 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13412-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nicholls JM, Poon LLM, Lee KC, Ng WF, Lai ST, Leung CY, et al. Lung pathology of fatal severe acute respiratory syndrome. Lancet. 2003;361:1773–8. 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13413-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-