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. 2021 Jan:102:299-302.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.072. Epub 2020 Oct 30.

Residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasal swabs of convalescent COVID-19 patients: Is prolonged quarantine always justified?

Antonio Piralla  1 , Matteo Ricchi  2 , Maria Grazia Cusi  3 , Paola Prati  4 , Nadia Vicari  4 , Giada Scarsi  4 , Claudia Gandolfo  3 , Gabriele Anichini  5 , Chiara Terrosi  5 , Elena Percivalle  1 , Edoardo Vecchio Nepita  1 , Federica Bergami  1 , Monica Tallarita  1 , Raffaella Di Martino  1 , Alessandro Ferrari  1 , Francesca Rovida  1 , Giovanna Lunghi  6 , Roberta Schiavo  7 , Fausto Baldanti  8
Affiliations

Residual SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasal swabs of convalescent COVID-19 patients: Is prolonged quarantine always justified?

Antonio Piralla et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cq value; Infectivity; Real-time reverse transcription PCR; SARS-CoV-2; Virus isolation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cq values observed in samples included in the study according to (A) the target gene used in the diagnostic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific real-time reverse transcription PCR and (B) isolation positive or negative.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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