Abstract
Since Disease Control and Prevention, 2020) These findings from recovered patients with re-detectable SARS-CoV-again. To explore this public health concern, we systematically searched PubMed (up to May 14, 2020) to summarize the available evidence from studies that documented the recovered patients with re-detectable SARS-CoV-2, using the search terms ("novel coronavirus" OR "SARS-CoV-2" OR "COVID-19") AND ("recovered" OR "discharged") AND ("positive" OR "re-detectable") with no language or time restrictions.Currently nucleic acid detection represents the most widely used test to confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection.Following had longer duration of viral shedding and even could be detected until death. (Lan et al., 2020;Zhou et al., 2020) For instance, given that the use of corticosteroids could delay the clearance of viral nucleic acids, it remains largely unknown about whether patients with severe COVID-19 and receiving corticosteroid treatment would produce transmissible SARS-CoV-2 after hospital discharge. (Ling et al., 2020)
Highlights
Since December 2019, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease, 2019) pandemic has caused ∼35 million confirmed cases including over 1,000,000 deaths worldwide, and currently remains out of control in most countries [1]
The positive trend in China demonstrated a promising combat against the COVID-19 outbreak; extreme caution is still needed given that the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) remains largely unknown to us
A recent study revealed that four recovered patients from COVID-19 showed positive quantitative RT-PCR test results again after discharged from hospital [2]
Summary
Since December 2019, the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease, 2019) pandemic has caused ∼35 million confirmed cases including over 1,000,000 deaths worldwide, and currently remains out of control in most countries [1]. A recent study revealed that four recovered patients from COVID-19 showed positive quantitative RT-PCR (reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction) test results again after discharged from hospital [2]. Data from Guangdong Province, China indicated that ∼14% of the discharged patients would be tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 again [3]. On April 10, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 90 recovered patients showed recurrent positive test results for SARS-CoV-2 [4]. These findings from recovered patients with re-detectable SARS-CoV-2 raise a significant public health concern about whether they could spread SARS-CoV-2 to others again.
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