{"doi":"10.1093/ofid/ofac066","title":"Vaccination Against SARS-CoV-2 Is Associated With a Lower Viral Load and Likelihood of Systemic Symptoms","abstract":"Abstract Background Data conflict on whether vaccination decreases severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load. The objective of this analysis was to compare baseline viral load and symptoms between vaccinated and unvaccinated adults enrolled in a randomized trial of outpatient coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment. Methods Baseline data from the first 433 sequential participants enrolling into the COVID-OUT trial were analyzed. Adults aged 30–85 with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2 were eligible within 3 days of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test and <7 days of symptoms. Log10 polymerase chain reaction viral loads were normalized to human RNase P by vaccination status, by time from vaccination, and by symptoms. Results Two hundred seventy-four participants with known vaccination status contributed optional nasal swabs for viral load measurement: median age, 46 years; median (interquartile range) BMI 31.2 (27.4–36.4) kg/m2. Overall, 159 (58%) were women, and 217 (80%) were White. The mean relative log10 viral load for those vaccinated <6 months from the date of enrollment was 0.11 (95% CI, –0.48 to 0.71), which was significantly lower than the unvaccinated group (P = .01). Those vaccinated ≥6 months before enrollment did not differ from the unvaccinated with respect to viral load (mean, 0.99; 95% CI, –0.41 to 2.40; P = .85). The vaccinated group had fewer moderate/severe symptoms of subjective fever, chills, myalgias, nausea, and diarrhea (all P < .05). Conclusions These data suggest that vaccination within 6 months of infection is associated with a lower viral load, and vaccination was associated with a lower likelihood of having systemic symptoms.","journal":"Open Forum Infectious Diseases","year":2022,"id":250343,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":26,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.5976,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":561812,"name":"Jennifer Proper","orcid":"0000-0002-6037-4077","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":267658,"name":"David R. Boulware","orcid":"0000-0002-4715-0060","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":231205,"name":"Amy B. Karger","orcid":"0000-0002-2781-3824","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":387536,"name":"Thomas A. Murray","orcid":"0000-0003-2769-4957","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":892522,"name":"V. D. P. Rao","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":892523,"name":"Aubrey A Hagen","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":437905,"name":"Christopher J. Tignanelli","orcid":"0000-0002-8079-5565","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":321110,"name":"Michael A. Puskarich","orcid":"0000-0001-6358-4670","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":661299,"name":"Ken Cohen","orcid":"0000-0002-6141-9142","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":488212,"name":"David Liebovitz","orcid":"0000-0002-2518-5940","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":332551,"name":"Nichole R. Klatt","orcid":"0000-0003-2968-5480","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":735621,"name":"Courtney A. Broedlow","orcid":null,"position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":891990,"name":"Katrina M Hartman","orcid":"0000-0001-6723-0423","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":502706,"name":"Jacinda M. Nicklas","orcid":"0000-0003-4418-5919","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":891991,"name":"Sherehan M. Ibrahim","orcid":"0000-0003-3495-3451","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":674228,"name":"Adnin Zaman","orcid":"0000-0002-6884-7748","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":892524,"name":"Hanna G Saveraid","orcid":null,"position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":891992,"name":"Hrishikesh Belani","orcid":"0000-0003-1259-155X","position":18,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":387530,"name":"Nicholas E. Ingraham","orcid":"0000-0002-0292-0594","position":19,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":886784,"name":"Grace M. Christensen","orcid":"0000-0003-0265-1416","position":20,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":557937,"name":"Lianne Siegel","orcid":"0000-0001-9440-9146","position":21,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":314908,"name":"Nancy E. Sherwood","orcid":"0000-0002-3365-9018","position":22,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":892525,"name":"Regina Fricton","orcid":null,"position":23,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":891993,"name":"Sam Lee","orcid":"0000-0002-6805-4051","position":24,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":341564,"name":"David J. Odde","orcid":"0000-0001-7731-2799","position":25,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":34495,"name":"John B. Buse","orcid":"0000-0002-9723-3876","position":26,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":867226,"name":"Jared D. Huling","orcid":"0000-0003-0670-4845","position":27,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":49889,"name":"Carolyn T. Bramante","orcid":"0000-0001-5858-2080","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":26,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:24:28.242323Z","pmid":"35392460","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}