Table 2.
Systemic distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and corresponding viral loads.
| Organ | Maximum viral load, copies/g of tissue | Median viral load, copies/g of tissue | Patients with virus detected in organ, % (no./total) |
| Lung | 1.0 × 1010 | 3.6 × 105 | 100 (19/19) |
| Small bowel | 2.7 × 109 | 2.7 × 105 | 73 (11/15) |
| Large bowel | 3.7 × 108 | 1.3 × 105 | 73 (11/15) |
| Lymph nodes | 8.9 × 108 | 7.1 × 104 | 69 (9/13) |
| Spleen | 7.2 × 105 | 4.8 × 104 | 53 (9/17) |
| Liver | 1.6 × 106 | 1.8 × 104 | 41 (7/17) |
| Heart | 2.8 × 107 | 3.2 × 104 | 40 (7/18) |
| Kidney | 7.4 × 105 | 4.8 × 104 | 38 (6/16) |
| Skeletal muscle | 2.8 × 104 | 2.8 × 104 | 12 (2/17) |