TY - JOUR
T1 - Residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasal swabs of convalescent COVID-19 patients
T2 - Is prolonged quarantine always justified?
AU - Piralla, Antonio
AU - Ricchi, Matteo
AU - Cusi, Maria Grazia
AU - Prati, Paola
AU - Vicari, Nadia
AU - Scarsi, Giada
AU - Gandolfo, Claudia
AU - Anichini, Gabriele
AU - Terrosi, Chiara
AU - Percivalle, Elena
AU - Vecchio Nepita, Edoardo
AU - Bergami, Federica
AU - Tallarita, Monica
AU - Di Martino, Raffaella
AU - Ferrari, Alessandro
AU - Rovida, Francesca
AU - Lunghi, Giovanna
AU - Schiavo, Roberta
AU - Baldanti, Fausto
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by Ricerca Corrente IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo , Italy (grant no. 80206 ), by Ricerca Finalizzata from Ministry of Health , Italy (grant no. GR-2013-02358399 ) and funds from the European Commission Horizon 2020 program (EU project 101003650 - ATAC).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Real-time reverse transcription PCR is currently the most sensitive method to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Defining whether a patient could be contagious or not contagious in the presence of residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA is of extreme importance in the context of public health. In this prospective multicenter study, virus isolation was prospectively attempted in 387 nasal swabs from clinically recovered patients showing low viral load (quantification cycle, Cq, value greater than 30). The median Cq value was 36.8 (range 30.0–39.4). Overall, a cytopathic effect was detected in nine samples, corresponding to a culture positivity rate of 2.3% (9/387). The results of this study help to dissect true virus replication and residual viral RNA detection in recovered patients.
AB - Real-time reverse transcription PCR is currently the most sensitive method to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Defining whether a patient could be contagious or not contagious in the presence of residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA is of extreme importance in the context of public health. In this prospective multicenter study, virus isolation was prospectively attempted in 387 nasal swabs from clinically recovered patients showing low viral load (quantification cycle, Cq, value greater than 30). The median Cq value was 36.8 (range 30.0–39.4). Overall, a cytopathic effect was detected in nine samples, corresponding to a culture positivity rate of 2.3% (9/387). The results of this study help to dissect true virus replication and residual viral RNA detection in recovered patients.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Cq value
KW - Infectivity
KW - Real-time reverse transcription PCR
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Virus isolation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.072
DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.072
M3 - Short survey
C2 - 33130202
AN - SCOPUS:85096818962
VL - 102
SP - 299
EP - 302
JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
SN - 1201-9712
ER -