Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020 May:214:108413.
doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2020.108413. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

COVID-19 in a patient with long-term use of glucocorticoids: A study of a familial cluster

Affiliations
Case Reports

COVID-19 in a patient with long-term use of glucocorticoids: A study of a familial cluster

Yuanyuan Han et al. Clin Immunol. 2020 May.

Abstract

Clusters of patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been successively reported globally. Studies show clear person-to-person transmission. The average incubation period is 2-14 days, and mostly 3-7 days. However, in some patients, this period may be longer. Here, we report a familial cluster of COVID-19 where a 47-year-old woman with long-term use of glucocorticoids did not develop any symptoms within the 14-day quarantine period but was confirmed with COVID-19 by tested positive of antibody on day 40 after she left Wuhan. Almost at the same time, her father and sister were diagnosed with COVID-19. The results suggest that the long-term use of glucocorticoids might cause atypical infections, a long incubation period, and extra transmission of COVID-19.

Keywords: Atypical infection; COVID-19; Familial cluster; Immunocompromised; Incubation period; Shedding duration.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest We declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The epidemiological and clinical characteristic of family cluster.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Representative images of the thoracic CT scans. A, C) CT scans of Case 1 on February 28th show opacities in the right lower lobes. B, D) CT scans of Case 1 on March 5th show new ground glass opacity in the right upper lobe. E) CT scan of Case 2 on February 25th shows a mixed pattern of ground glass opacities and consolidation. F) CT scan of Case 2 on March 5th shows lesion resolution. G) CT scan of Case 3 on February 16th shows multiple patchy high density shadows of both lungs. H) CT scan of Case 3 on March 6th shows resolution.

References

    1. Zhu Na, Dingyu Zhang, Wang Wenling. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:727–733. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu Yuntao, Wenzhe Ho, Yaowei Huang. SARS-CoV-2 is an appropriate name for the new coronavirus. Lancet. 2020;395(10228):949–950. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hu Zhiliang, Ci Song, Chuanjun Xu. Clinical characteristics of 24 asymptomatic infections with COVID-19 screened among close contacts in Nanjing, China. Sci. China Life Sci. 2020 doi: 10.1007/s11427-020-1661-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rui Huang, Juan Xia, Yuxin Chen. A family cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infection involving 11 patients in Nanjing, China. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2020 doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30147-X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jernigan Daniel B. CDC COVID-19 response team, update: public health response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak - United States, February 24, 2020. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly Rep. 2020;69:216–219. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances