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. 2020 Feb;25(8):2000170.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.8.2000170.

Differential diagnosis of illness in patients under investigation for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Italy, February 2020

Licia Bordi  1 , Emanuele Nicastri  1 , Laura Scorzolini  1 , Antonino Di Caro  1 , Maria Rosaria Capobianchi  1 , Concetta Castilletti  1 , Eleonora Lalle  1 ; on behalf of INMI COVID-19 study group and Collaborating Centers2  1   2
Affiliations

Differential diagnosis of illness in patients under investigation for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Italy, February 2020

Licia Bordi et al. Euro Surveill. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as the causative pathogen of an ongoing outbreak of respiratory disease, now named COVID-19. Most cases and sustained transmission occurred in China, but travel-associated cases have been reported in other countries, including Europe and Italy. Since the symptoms are similar to other respiratory infections, differential diagnosis in travellers arriving from countries with wide-spread COVID-19 must include other more common infections such as influenza and other respiratory tract diseases.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; differential diagnosis; rapid molecular assay; respiratory pathogens.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Origin (region) and number of patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection, Rome, Italy, 21 January–7 February 2020, (n = 126)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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