This article is a Preprint
Preprints are preliminary research reports that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Preprints posted online allow authors to receive rapid feedback and the entire scientific community can appraise the work for themselves and respond appropriately. Those comments are posted alongside the preprints for anyone to read them and serve as a post publication assessment.
SARS-CoV-2 PCR Persistence and Duration of COVID-19 Symptoms in Health Professionals (preprint)
preprints.org; 2022.
Preprint
in English
| PREPRINT-PREPRINTS.ORG | ID: ppzbmed-10.20944.preprints202212.0196.v1
ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives:
Most individuals infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms of COVID-19, which usually resolve after few days. Regardless of symptoms, infected people can transmit the virus to others especially on the first days of infection. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is used to confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection; some individuals show persistent PCR-positivity after recovering from COVID-19. In this study, 12 individuals who showed persistence of COVID-19 symptoms and of SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positivity were followed-up.Methods:
nasopharyngeal samples were collected for SARS-CoV-2 detection by RT-qPCR; clinical and epidemiological data were analyzed.Results:
that persistence of SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity was associated with duration of symptoms (rs 0.81338), which varied between one and 49 days, with 75% of the individuals reporting symptoms for more than two weeks; 83.33% of cases remained positive after two weeks of onset of symptoms, despite decreases in viral load.Conclusion:
neither RT-qPCR test nor a symptom-based approach alone are sufficient to evaluate discontinuation of patient isolation; other factors such as viral loads and symptom severity should also be considered. Additional studies are needed to understand how RT-PCR-positivity is related to symptoms and the risk of viral transmission, and to better support isolation guidelines.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
PREPRINT-PREPRINTS.ORG
Main subject:
Coronavirus Infections
/
COVID-19
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Preprint
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS