Critical appraisal of the literature

Abstract

defend different points of view on the duration of isolation for a 24-year-old patient, without comorbidities and with COVID-19. However, she required hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit, having evolved without complications, but as she lives with her parents, she was considered to be a high risk for disease spreading. Therefore, it is essential to determine the appropriate period of isolation 1 . The reader are stimulated to choose between recommending extended isolation for 20 days or reassure the patient on the low risk of transmission. To support the discussion, there are a total of eight scientific articles published between 2020 and 2021 (a meta-analysis and seven observational studies). However, when analyzing them individually, the question arises: is there enough evidence in each of these articles to justify any of the reader's choice?The meta-analysis goal is to characterize the dynamics of viral load, the release duration of viral RNA and the release of viable SARS-CoV-2 viruses in various body fluids, in addition to comparing the viral dynamics of SAR-S-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV2. Among the conclusions, the authors find that the release of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in respiratory and stool samples can be prolonged, but the duration of viral viability is reduced. Furthermore, it is said that the SARS-CoV-2 titers in the upper respiratory tract reach their peak in the first week of the disease 2 .