ABSTRACT
Coronaviruses (CoV), which are in the Coronaviridae family, cause different severity of gastrointestinal, respiratory and systemic diseases in wild and domestic animals, and can lead to different clinical manifestations, ranging from colds to pneumonia, depending on immunity. To date, seven types of coronavirus have been identified as infectious agents in humans;of these, HCoV 229E, HCoV NL63, HCoV HKU1 and HCoV OC43 typically cause cold symptoms in immunocompetent individuals, while SARS-CoV (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) and MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) is zoonotic and cause severe respiratory diseases and deaths. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, is the seventh coronavirus identified as an infection agent in humans, which started in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China and was identified as a pandemic in a short time. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) defines SARS-CoV-2-sourced COVID-19 as a pandemic, and because of the increasing number of cases and deaths worldwide, structure of the novel virus and viral diagnosis methods gained importance respectively for vaccine studies and for controlling the outbreak caused by the virus.Copyright © 2020 Ankara Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Coronaviruses (CoV), which are in the Coronaviridae family, cause different severity of gastrointestinal, respiratory and systemic diseases in wild and domestic animals, and can lead to different clinical manifestations, ranging from colds to pneumonia, depending on immunity. To date, seven types of coronavirus have been identified as infectious agents in humans;of these, HCoV 229E, HCoV NL63, HCoV HKU1 and HCoV OC43 typically cause cold symptoms in immunocompetent individuals, while SARS-CoV (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) and MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) is zoonotic and cause severe respiratory diseases and deaths. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, is the seventh coronavirus identified as an infection agent in humans, which started in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China and was identified as a pandemic in a short time. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) defines SARS-CoV-2-sourced COVID-19 as a pandemic, and because of the increasing number of cases and deaths worldwide, structure of the novel virus and viral diagnosis methods gained importance respectively for vaccine studies and for controlling the outbreak caused by the virus.
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aimed to assess fecal viral shedding in children who have been confirmed COVID-19 by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Material(s) and Method(s): We enrolled fifty inpatient children who have been confirmed COVID-19 during first wave of outbreak in our region. All of the patients have been twice confirmed by RT-PCR within nasopharyngeal swabs. Each case was evaluated with clinical data, laboratory tests and rectal swabs. The rectal swabs were obtained five days after nasopharyngeal positivity. The clinical data was recorded within two basic categories, including common symptoms or digestive symptoms. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in rectal swabs was performed by RT-PCR method. Result(s): Fifteen patients (30%) had digestive symptoms. On the 5th day, 50 rectal swabs were studied with PCR-RT. Only one of them was positive (2%). The only patient who was positive for SARS-CoV-2 on rectal swab was a symptomatic threeand-a-half-year-old girl. The patient, who became asymptomatic in the follow-up, was retested with a nasopharyngeal swab one week later, the result was negative and she was discharged on the 10th day. The second rectal smear of the patient was negative. Conclusion(s): We found very low rate (2%) fecal viral shedding with rectal swab PCR among children who have been confirmed COVID-19 by nasopharyngeal swab PCR. We thought that this result was due to the mild clinical course of the patients who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 we followed up. However, fecal oral transmission might still matter in children. Copyright © 2022 Ankara Pediatric Hematology Oncology Training and Research Hospital. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) leading to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China at the end of 2019 has resulted in a global pandemic. On 11 March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test results from the Medical Microbiology Laboratory of a pandemic hospital according to demographic data. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test results of 413,013 samples from 194,062 patients were retrospectively analysed. Tests were carried out between 27 March and 31 December 2020 using two commercial kits. The patient's age and gender were recorded, in addition to the percentage of positive test results per month (i.e. monthly positivity). Pearson's Chi-squared test was used to analyse statistical significance. RESULTS: Overall SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the pandemic hospital was 19.9%. Female gender and younger age (0-18 years) had a statistically significant higher positivity (P < 0.05). There was a statistically significant higher positivity in August and September. CONCLUSIONS: Higher positivity among the younger population and females may be the leading cause of low COVID-19 mortality rates in Turkey as these population groups are less likely to die from the disease. Governments should disaggregate COVID-19 data by age and gender, and vaccine studies focussing on younger populations should be accelerated because this population group represents an important source of infection.