Duration of viral shedding in asymptomatic or mild cases of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a cruise ship: A single-hospital experience in Tokyo, Japan.
Int J Infect Dis
; 97: 293-295, 2020 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32535295
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the cause of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first reported in Wuhan, China, and now has spread across the world as a global pandemic. The propagation from asymptomatic polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive individuals represents a complicating factor in the efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the course of PCR assays and the duration of viral shedding in 23 asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 patients from the cruise ship who were admitted to our hospital. Among these 23 cases, the median duration of viral shedding was 19 days (range, 6-37 days) from initial viral detection. Eight cases (35%) had another positive PCR result after testing negative once. Although the duration of viral shedding was approximately three weeks, the infectivity and transmissibility period from asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases is unclear. Further studies are needed to determine how long such asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases have infectivity.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Ships
/
Virus Shedding
/
Coronavirus Infections
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Infect Dis
Journal subject:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: