Abstract : Non-human primates infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibit mild clinical signs. Here we used a mathematical model to characterize in detail the viral dynamics in 31 cynomolgus macaques for which nasopharyngeal and tracheal viral load were frequently assessed. We identified that infected cells had a large burst size (>10 4 virus) and a within-host reproductive basic number of approximately 6 and 4 in nasopharyngeal and tracheal compartment, respectively. After peak viral load, infected cells were rapidly lost with a half-life of 9 hours, with no significant association between cytokine elevation and clearance, leading to a median time to viral clearance of 10 days, consistent with observations in mild human infections. Given these parameter estimates, we predict that a prophylactic treatment blocking 90% of viral production or viral infection could prevent viral growth. In conclusion, our results provide estimates of SARS-CoV-2 viral kinetic parameters in an experimental model of mild infection and they provide means to assess the efficacy of future antiviral treatments.
https://hal-pasteur.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-03207908 Contributor : Flora DonatiConnect in order to contact the contributor Submitted on : Monday, April 26, 2021 - 11:07:34 AM Last modification on : Thursday, April 14, 2022 - 5:26:01 PM Long-term archiving on: : Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - 6:38:21 PM