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. 2022 Dec 14;612(7941):758–763. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05542-y

Fig. 1. Distribution, quantification and replication of SARS-CoV-2 across the human body and brain.

Fig. 1

The heat map depicts the highest mean quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA (N) through ddPCR present in the autopsy tissues of 11 patients who died with COVID-19 and underwent whole-body and brain sampling. Patients are aligned from shortest to longest duration of illness (DOI) before death, listed at the bottom of the figure, and grouped into early (≤14 days), mid (15–30 days) and late (≥31 days) duration of illness. Tissues are organized by tissue group beginning with the respiratory tissues at the top and CNS at the bottom. Viral RNA levels range from 0.002 to 500,000 N gene copies per nanogram of RNA input, depicted as a gradient from dark blue at the lowest level to dark red at the highest level. Tissues that were also positive for subgenomic RNA (sgRNA+) through real-time RT–qPCR are shaded with black vertical bars. O, other; PNS, peripheral nervous system; SM, skeletal muscle.