Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Household Contacts of a Healthcare Provider, Wuhan, China

Abstract

We found that all 5 asymptomatic household contacts of a Wuhan, China, physician with coronavirus disease had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 detected by PCR. The index patient and 2 contacts also had abnormal chest computed tomography scans. Asymptomatic infected household contacts of healthcare workers with coronavirus disease might be underrecognized.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; China; SARS-CoV-2; Wuhan; asymptomatic; coronavirus disease; healthcare workers; household contacts; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viruses; zoonoses.

Figure

Timeline and CT images associated with a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a single household, Wuhan China. A) Timeline of key events, including laboratory tests, associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in the index patient and 5 asymptomatic household contacts. B) Abnormal chest CT scans showing features consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection (arrows) observed in the index patient and 2 household contacts (top row), compared with normal CT scans among the 3 other household contacts (bottom row). CT, computed tomography; qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.