Low infectious risk of re-positive COVID-19 patients: a single-center study.

Int J Infect Dis

Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangdong Workstation for Emerging Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 160, Qunxian Road, Dashi Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou 511430, Guangdong, China; School of Public Health of the Southern Medical Universtiy, 1838 Guangzhou Avenue North Baiyun Dsitrict, Guangzhou 510405, Guangdong China. Electronic address:

Published: October 2021

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the infectiousness of re-positive coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Methods: All nucleic acid testing (NAT) was performed using throat swabs, nasopharyngeal swabs, and anal swabs, which were tested by Fluorescent quantitative realtime PCR. Re-positive cases were defined as a discharged patient who re-tested positive by NAT. Micro-neutralization of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed based on the methods for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) viruses. IgM and IgG against the N protein of SARS-CoV-2 were determined by ELISA.

Results: A total 255 (16.04%) of 1590 COVID-19 patients were re-positive. The re-positive cases were more likely to occur in patients in the 20-39 years age group and in patients with disease of moderate severity. Quantitative PCR showed that cycle threshold (Ct) values and viral loads were both far lower than in the hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The viral load in re-positive cases was very low. Viral culture of the samples from re-positive patients showed no cytopathic effect, and NAT of the culture medium of viral cultures all exhibited negative results.

Conclusion: The viral load in re-positive cases was very low; patients were not infectious and the risk of human-to-human transmission was extremely low. Discharged COVID-19 patients should undergo home health management for 3 weeks.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8358082PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2021.08.019DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

covid-19 patients
16
re-positive cases
16
respiratory syndrome
12
infectious risk
8
re-positive
8
patients
8
severe acute
8
acute respiratory
8
viral load
8
load re-positive
8

Similar Publications

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) primarily affects the respiratory system, neurological symptoms were reported both during acute and post-acute COVID-19. Notably, patients with no history of epilepsy or other neurological conditions developed new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) weeks, months, or even up to a year following the viral infection. While NORSE is uncommon, it carries a high mortality rate and can result in permanent epilepsy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To investigate histopathological changes in the lung tissue of long-COVID patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, transbronchial lung biopsy was performed in long-COVID patients with persisting symptoms and radiological abnormalities. Histopathologic analyses were performed by using hematoxylin-eosin, Martius, Scarlet and Blue, Movat's, thyroid transcription factor 1, CD34, and CD68 staining.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Subacute thyroiditis - Is it really linked to viral infection? Retrospective hospital patient registry study.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab

January 2025

Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

Objective: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a painful inflammatory disorder of the thyroid gland, which - after a phase of thyrotoxicosis - leads to transient, or less frequently permanent hypothyroidism. Apart from a strong association with specific HLA alleles, the causes are uncertain. Viral disease has been hypothesised as a trigger, with Enteroviruses, namely Echoviruses and Coxsackieviruses, showing a seasonal distribution that coincides with the incidence of SAT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To describe the demographic/clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during Omicron predominance by immunocompromised and high-risk status.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022, using data from the Optum de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database. Patient demographic/clinical characteristics, treatments, mortality and costs, were assessed, during the emergence of BA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on March 26, 2020. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical profiles of COVID-19 mortality that occurred during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic and to compare the differences between them.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study carried out among COVID-19 patients admitted at GB Pant Hospital, Port Blair.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!