Correction for Yang et al., Just 2% of SARS-CoV-2−positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in communities

MICROBIOLOGY Correction for “Just 2% of SARS-CoV-2−positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in communities,” by Qing Yang, Tassa K. Saldi, Patrick K. Gonzales, Erika Lasda, Carolyn J. Decker, Kimngan L. Tat, Morgan R. Fink, Cole R. Hager, Jack C. Davis, Christopher D. Ozeroff, Denise Muhlrad, Stephen K. Clark, Will T. Fattor, Nicholas R. Meyerson, Camille L. Paige, Alison R. Gilchrist, Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, Emma R. Worden-Sapper, Sharon S. Wu, Gloria R. Brisson, Matthew B. McQueen, Robin D. Dowell, Leslie Leinwand, Roy Parker, and Sara L. Sawyer, which published May 10, 2021; 10.1073/pnas.2104547118 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118, e2104547118).

The authors note that on page 2, left column, first full paragraph, line 6, “Overall, the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 viral load fits under a log-normal distribution centered around the mean of 2.1 × 10⁷ virions per mL (median = 1.1 × 10⁶ virions per mL) for the CU-E primers or 5.9 × 10⁶ virions per mL (median = 2.5 × 10⁵ virions per mL) for the CU-N primers” should instead appear as “Overall, the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 viral load fits under a log-normal distribution centered around the mean of 9.9 × 10⁸ virions per mL (median = 1.1 × 10⁶ virions per mL) for the CU-E primers or 3.6 × 10⁸ virions per mL (median = 2.5 × 10⁵ virions per mL) for the CU-N primers.”

The authors also note that on page 2, right column, first full paragraph, line 14, “Nonetheless, similar to the viral load distribution of the campus asymptomatic population (mean = 2.1 × 10⁷ virions per mL, median = 1.1 × 10⁶ virions per mL), the viral load in symptomatic patient saliva samples shows a log-normal distribution with a mean of 2.5 × 10⁷ virions per mL (median = 9.4 × 10⁵ virions per mL) and varied from very high viral loads (9.5 × 10¹⁰ virions per mL) to viral loads near the limit of detection (1.3 virions per mL)” should instead appear as “Nonetheless, similar to the viral load distribution of the campus asymptomatic population (mean = 9.9 × 10⁸ virions per mL, median = 1.1 × 10⁶ virions per mL), the viral load in symptomatic patient saliva samples shows a log-normal distribution with a mean of 1.8 × 10⁹ virions per mL (median = 9.4 × 10⁵ virions per mL) and varied from very high viral loads (9.5 × 10¹⁰ virions per mL) to viral loads near the limit of detection (1.3 virions per mL).” The online version has been corrected.