Prolonged shedding of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

• Published in: Infection control and hospital epidemiology Vol. 41; no. 10; pp. 1235 - 1236
• Main Authors: Ridgway, Jessica P., Shah, Nirav S., Robicsek, Ari A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cambridge University Press 01.10.2020
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; Cohort analysis; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease control; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Health care; Humans; Illinois - epidemiology; Infectious diseases; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Research Brief; RNA, Viral - isolation & purification; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Time Factors; Virus Shedding; Illinois; Singapore; United States > US; China
• ISSN: 0899-823X; 1559-6834; 1559-6834
• DOI: 10.1017/ice.2020.307

Methods To estimate the duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding, we conducted a multisite study among patients who had nasopharyngeal specimens tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA via real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay at Providence St Joseph Health (a 51-hospital healthcare organization based in Renton, Washington), University of Chicago Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, and NorthShore University HealthSystem (a 5-hospital healthcare system based in Evanston, Illinois). Patients typically develop symptoms before they undergo their first SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. [...]our findings likely underestimate the duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding. [...]in a multisite cohort study, we found prolonged duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding among patients with COVID-19.