SARS‐CoV‐2 diagnostics in the virology laboratory of a University Hospital in Rome during the lockdown period

Abstract

Italy was one of the most affected nations by coronavirus disease 2019 outside China. The infections, initially limited to Northern Italy, spread to all other Italian regions. This study aims to provide a snapshot of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) epidemiology based on a single‐center laboratory experience in Rome. The study retrospectively included 6565 subjects tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 at the Laboratory of Virology of Sapienza University Hospital in Rome from 6 March to 4 May. A total of 9995 clinical specimens were analyzed, including nasopharyngeal swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, gargle lavages, stools, pleural fluids, and cerebrospinal fluids. Positivity to SARS‐CoV‐2 was detected in 8% (527/6565) of individuals, increased with age, and was higher in male patients ( P < .001). The number of new confirmed cases reached a peak on 18 March and then decreased. The virus was detected in respiratory samples, in stool and in pleural fluids, while none of gargle lavage or cerebrospinal fluid samples gave a positive result. This analysis allowed to gather comprehensive information on SARS‐CoV‐2 epidemiology in our area, highlighting positivity variations over time and in different sex and age group and the need for a continuous surveillance of the infection, mostly because the pandemic evolution remains unknown.

Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in COVID-19 patients: a 2-month retrospective analysis in an Italian hospital

“…Italy has experienced one of the harshest and earliest COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) epidemics, with the number of patients infected following, from the end of February up to the end of March 2020, an exponential trend [1] . Between the 6 March 2020 and 2 May 2020, a total of 394 patients were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) at the University Hospital of Rome Policlinico Umberto I (PUI) (Rome, Italy) [2] . At the PUI, 5 COVID-19-devoted wards were organised, including two brand-new intensive care units (ICUs), counting 32 dedicated to COVID-19 patients: the first was the old general ICU converted into a dedicated COVID-19 ICU, while the second was created in the spaces of four operating rooms (new ICU).…”

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Different Body Fluids Using RT-PCR – An Autopsy Based Study

“…None of the patient had shown any neurological symptoms before death in our study. SARS-CoV-2 wasn't found in study of Turriziani O et al [24] (5 cases) and Neumann B et al [25] (30 cases). Destras G et al [26] tested 578 CSF samples of 555 patients received at Lyon university hospital during covid-19 epidemic.…”

“…Bennet D et al [20] described case report of 61 year old renal transplant patient, who had shown presence of SARS-CoV-2 in plural uid by RT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 was also detected from pleural uid in study done by Malik MI et al [21] (1 case), Mei F et al [22] (1 case), Baek MS et al [23] (1 case) and Turriziani O et al [24] (3 out of 8 cases). As pleural mesothelial cell expresses DPP4 (CD26) receptor, which plays a role for entry of a virus inside the cell, pleura is target for SARS-CoV-2.…”

“…Very few studies have focused on detection of SARS-CoV-2 in vitreous humor, CSF, pleural uid and pericardial uid. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Number of cases were also less in most such studies. In our study, we have collected postmortem samples of vitreous humor, CSF, pleural uid and pericardial uid in 24 cases and analyzed them to detect SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR.…”

KI and WU Polyomavirus in Respiratory Samples of SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients

“…Oropharyngeal swabs collected from 150 individuals, 112 symptomatic COVID-19 patients and 38 healthcare workers not infected by SARS-CoV-2, were tested for KIPyV and WUPyV DNA presence. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was previously performed by real-time RT-PCR assay (RealStar SARS-CoV2 RT-PCR, Altona Diagnostics) [15] from March 2020 to May 2020 at Policlinico Umberto I Hospital, Rome, Italy. Viruses identified in each specimen were documented and summarized as co-infection, single infection or negatives.…”