Post-discharge surveillance and positive virus detection in two medical staff recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), China, January to February 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 Mar;25(10):2000191. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.10.2000191.

Abstract

Since December 2019, 62 medical staff of Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, China have been hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019. During the post-discharge surveillance after clinical recovery, swabs were positive in two asymptomatic cases (3.23%). Case 1 had presented typical clinical and radiological manifestations on admission, while manifestation in Case 2 was very mild. In conclusion, a small proportion of recovered patients may test positive after discharge, and post-discharge surveillance and isolation need to be strengthened.

Keywords: COVID-19; medical staff; positive detection; post-discharge surveillance.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asymptomatic Infections*
  • Betacoronavirus / genetics
  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Coronavirus Infections / genetics
  • Coronavirus Infections / transmission
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Female
  • Hospitalization
  • Humans
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional*
  • Male
  • Patient Discharge*
  • Pharynx / virology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / genetics*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / transmission
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Radiography
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed