Long-term Positivity to SARS-CoV-2: A Clinical Case of COVID-19 with Persistent Evidence of Infection

Damiano D'Ardes; Andrea Boccatonda; Ilaria Rossi; Michela Pontolillo; Giulio Cocco; Cosima Schiavone; Francesca Santilli; Maria Teresa Guagnano; Marco Bucci; Francesco Cipollone

doi:10.12890/2020_001707

Long-term Positivity to SARS-CoV-2: A Clinical Case of COVID-19 with Persistent Evidence of Infection

Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. 2020 May 11;7(6):001707. doi: 10.12890/2020_001707. eCollection 2020.

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, 'G. D'Annunzio' University, Chieti, Italy.
² Ultrasound Unit, Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, 'G. D'Annunzio' University, Chieti, Italy.
³ Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.

Abstract

In December 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in Hubei province in China. The disease has since spread worldwide and the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on 11 March 2020. We describe the case of a 65-year-old woman who clinically recovered from COVID-19 but showed persistent infection with SARS-CoV-2 for 51 days.

Learning points: A case of persistent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is described.Some tests may pick up viral RNA fragments, giving a false positive result.The quarantining of infected patients to limit possible SARS-CoV-2 spread is important.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; persistent infection.