Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 96, Issue -, Pages 288-290Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.030
Keywords
COVID-19; Asymptomatic patients; Viral load; Viral shedding
Categories
Funding
- Open Project of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research
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Data are limited on the viral load, viral shedding patterns, and potential infectivity of asymptomatic patients (APs) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study included 31 adult patients who were virologically confirmed to have COVID-19 but were asymptomatic on admission. Among these 31 patients, 22 presented symptoms after admission and were defined as asymptomatic patients in the incubation period (APIs); the other nine patients remained asymptomatic during hospitalization and were defined as asymptomatic patients (APs). The median cycle threshold (Ct) value of APs (39.0, interquartile range (IQR) 37.5-39.5) was significantly higher than that of APIs (34.5, IQR 32.2-37.0), indicating a lower viral load in APs. However, the duration of viral shedding remained similar in the two groups (7 days, IQR 5-14 days vs. 8 days, IQR 5-16 days). The study findings demonstrated that although APs with COVID-19 have a lower viral load, they still have certain period of viral shedding, which suggests the possibility of transmission during their asymptomatic period. Further longitudinal surveillance of these asymptomatic cases via virus nucleic acid testing are warranted. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.
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