Clinical, immunological and virological characterization of COVID-19 patients that test re-positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR.
EBioMedicine
; 59: 102960, 2020 Sep.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32853988
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Some COVID-19 cases test positive again for SARS-CoV-2 RNA following negative test results and discharge, raising questions about the meaning of virus detection. Better characterization of re-positive cases is urgently needed.METHODS:
Clinical data were obtained through Guangdong's COVID-19 surveillance network. Neutralization antibody titre was determined using microneutralization assays. Potential infectivity of clinical samples was evaluated by cell inoculation. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected using three different RT-PCR kits and multiplex PCR with nanopore sequencing.FINDINGS:
Among 619 discharged COVID-19 cases, 87 re-tested as SARS-CoV-2 positive in circumstances of social isolation. All re-positive cases had mild or moderate symptoms at initial diagnosis and were younger on average (median, 28). Re-positive cases (n = 59) exhibited similar neutralization antibodies (NAbs) titre distributions to other COVID-19 cases (n = 218) tested here. No infectious strain could be obtained by culture and no full-length viral genomes could be sequenced from re-positive cases.INTERPRETATION:
Re-positive SARS-CoV-2 cases do not appear to be caused by active reinfection and were identified in ~14% of discharged cases. A robust NAb response and potential virus genome degradation were detected in almost all re-positive cases, suggesting a substantially lower transmission risk, especially through respiratory routes.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neumonía Viral
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ARN Viral
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Infecciones por Coronavirus
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Betacoronavirus
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Aged
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Child
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Child, preschool
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Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
EBioMedicine
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article