Persistence of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction test result for 24 days in a hospitalized asymptomatic carrier

Uechi, Takahiro; Nakamura, Shunsuke; Takeshita, Ryo; Morino, Kyoko; Mizuno, Ren; Nakagawa, Yuki; Irifukuhama, Yuna; Takada, Shintaro; Teruya, Hideki; Mita, N; Nakamori, Tomoki; Kinoshita, Hirohisa

doi:10.1002/ams2.525

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The data presented here as well as recent reports argue that the interpretation of widespread testing may be complicated by persistent PCR positivity, especially in individuals who were clinically asymptomatic and never diagnosed originally. 15 It also raises the possibility that individuals who appear to be re-infected were actually just persistently positive. 16 Ultimately, the issue becomes a practical one.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of SARS‐CoV‐2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR positivity in COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors

et al. 2020

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Background Nucleic acid persists after symptom resolution and infectivity for many viral infections via delayed clearance of nucleic acid fragments, non‐infectious particles, or transmissible virus. For Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19), the relationship between nasopharyngeal (NP) swab positivity, the development of antibodies against COVID‐19, and clinical history are unclear. Study design and methods Individuals who recovered from COVID‐19 and volunteered to donate convalescent plasma (CP) were screened by NP swab PCR, responded to a questionnaire, and were tested for anti‐COVID‐19 antibodies. Results A proportion of 11.8% of individuals tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 by NP swab PCR greater than 14 days after the resolution of symptoms of active disease, including one donor who had asymptomatic disease and tested positive by NP swab 41 days after her initial diagnosis. Clinical history did not show a significant correlation with persistence of NP swab positivity. Also, NP swab positivity >14 days from symptom resolution did not correlate with anti‐COVID‐19 serology results. IgG anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 spike antibody strength correlated with hospitalization for COVID‐19 using two different assays. Total anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleocapsid antibody strength correlated with time from symptom resolution to sample collection and symptom duration. Conclusions SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acid is detectable long after the resolution of symptoms in a significant percentage of previously diagnosed individuals, which is important to consider when interpreting PCR swab results. Persistence of PCR positivity does not correlate with antibody strength or symptoms of COVID‐19. If anti‐spike antibody is used to assess CP potency, individuals who suffered severe COVID‐19 disease symptoms may represent better donors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of SARS‐CoV‐2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR positivity in COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors

et al. 2020

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“…As many other investigations also suggest for this. 6,11,[20][21][22][23] In the present study, the majority of enrolled cases were asymptomatic except 7 cases who had mild symptoms. There was not any mortality case found during this study period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Persistent Positivity of Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction Test among Patients with COVID-19 in Rural Teaching Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

et al. 2021

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Introduction: The persistence positivity detected for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ribonucleic acid by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test in asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 positive patients has attracted a lot of attention. There is limited data on the duration of viral shedding. We aimed to determine the proportion of coronavirus disease patients with persistent positivity of real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test in a teaching hospital of Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using medical records from May to September 2020 in a teaching hospital of Nepal. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (Reference no 077/078/03). Convenient sampling method was used. Data was analysed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Point estimate at 90% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Of the total 95 cases, 9 (9.5%) cases (4.6-14.4 at 90% Confidence Interval), were repeat positive after achieving the first negative. The mean day required of achieving the last negative for the repeat positive group was 62.11±3.95, range (60-70 days). The mean time duration for the virus shedding was found to be 20.43±12.19 days (range 7-60 days) after the first positive test result. Conclusions: This study concludes that there might be a persistent positivity of the polymerase chain reaction test among patients with COVID-19. The majority of the patients were test positive for 8-14 days, and some were positive till 60-70 days.

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“…Estimating the cumulative recovered population from daily % positive cases requires knowing the time that PCR tests can detect the virus during the disease timeline. Literature estimates for the median time to conversion to PCR negative range from 17 to 28 days (14,17,18,19,20,21). This paper uses the most extended time point (28 days) because it provides a lower boundary to the recovered population estimate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Knowing the time that PCR tests can detect the virus during the disease timeline is essential to estimate the cumulative recovered population from daily % positive cases. Literature estimates for the median time to conversion to PCR negative range from 17 to 28 days (14,17,18,19,20,21).…”

Section: Recovered Population Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating Prevalence and time Course of Sars-Cov-2 Based on new Hospital Admissions and PCR Tests: Relevance to Vaccination Program Tactical Planning

González

2020

Preprint

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Data posted in the COVID 19 tracking website for RT-PCR (PCR) results and hospital admissions are used to estimate the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the United States (1). Hospital admissions mitigate positive sampling bias in PCR tests due to their initially limited test numbers and application as a diagnostic, instead of a surveying tool. As of July 31, the United States' cumulative recovered population is estimated at 47% or 155 million. The remaining susceptible population is 53%, or 47% excepting the 6% infectious population. The estimated mortality rate of the cumulative recovered population is 0.09% death per case. New York and Massachusetts show SARS-CoV-2 prevalence of 87% and 55%, respectively. Likewise, each state exhibits relatively low current positive PCR results at 1 % and 1.7%. Also, these states show about twice the mortality rate of the nation. Florida, California, and Texas showed recovered population percent around 40%, higher current PCR positive test results ranging from 7% to 13%. A higher recovered population mitigates the current positive value attainable by limiting the infectivity rate Re. This approach provides an alternate source of information on the pandemic's full time course since the serological testing only views a narrow time slice of its history due to the transient nature of the antibody response and its graduated expression dependency on the severity of the disease. The deficiency of serological testing to estimate the recovered population is made even more acute due to the large proportion of asymptomatic and sub-clinical cases in the COVID-19 pandemic

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Persistence of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction test result for 24 days in a hospitalized asymptomatic carrier

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Persistence of SARS‐CoV‐2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR positivity in COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors

Persistence of SARS‐CoV‐2 nasopharyngeal swab PCR positivity in COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors

Persistent Positivity of Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction Test among Patients with COVID-19 in Rural Teaching Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Estimating Prevalence and time Course of Sars-Cov-2 Based on new Hospital Admissions and PCR Tests: Relevance to Vaccination Program Tactical Planning

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