Table 2.

SARS-CoV-2 loads and viral RNA Ct values in faecal samples detected positive by real-time RT-PCR.

Reference	No. patients	SARS-CoV-2 load (copies/mL)	Other results
(Wolfel et al., 2020)	9	>107 (peak) (range 103–107)	-viral load highly variable, depending on the day of sampling post onset. -peak during the first week from onset
(Zhang et al., n.d.)	23	5623 (mean) 105.8 (peak)	-faecal samples detected by rRT-PCR targeting ORF1ab, N and S genes -Ct values of ORF1ab gene from ⁓25 to 43 -Negative samples for Ct value of 43 (limit of detection) -Ct values of 37.6, 32.64, 29.22, and 25.77 corresponding to 1 × 103, 1 × 104, 1 × 105, and 1 × 106 copies/mL, respectively.
(Cheung et al., 2020)	59	104.7 (median) (range 103.4–107.6)	-105.1 copies/mL with diarrhoea -103.9 copies/mL without diarrhoea
(W. Wang et al. 2020)	153	<2.6·104 copies/mL	-mean Ct = 31.4 ± 5.1
(Y. Wu et al., 2020)	41		-faecal viral RNA Ct values in 41 patients with positive faeces -Ct values of the targeted genes RdRp, N, E were 30.33 ± 8.12, 26.85 ± 11.42 and 28.42 ± 6.79, respectively.
(Xu et al., 2020)	10	2·103–2·107 (estimated by us)	-Ct values of Orf1ab and N genes on real-time RT–PCR in rectal swabs from ⁓23 to 37 -Ct profiles during 1–27 d since admission are available -Ct values of 32.04, 28.81, 25.14 and 21.54 corresponding to 5.27 × 104, 5.27 × 105, 5.27 × 106 and 5.27 × 107 copies/mL