Re-positive coronavirus disease 2019 PCR test: could it be a reinfection?

A A Osman; M M Al Daajani; A J Alsahafi

doi:10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100748

Re-positive coronavirus disease 2019 PCR test: could it be a reinfection?

New Microbes New Infect. 2020 Sep:37:100748. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100748. Epub 2020 Aug 20.

Authors

A A Osman¹, M M Al Daajani², A J Alsahafi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia.
² Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Public Health Agency, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Family Medicine and Public Health Consultant, Public Health Department, Jeddah Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak started in December 2019 and rapidly spread around the globe as a major health threat. Several reports on re-positive cases subsequent to discharge from hospitals caught our attention. We aimed to highlight RT-qPCR positivity re-detection after discharge from isolation, with special consideration of the possible reasons behind it. We found that re-positive RT-qPCR assays for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 after previous negative results might be attributed to false-negative laboratory results and prolonged viral shedding, rather than to re-infection. These findings are encouraging and should be validated in a larger cohort.

Keywords: CT scan; Coronavirus disease 2019; False-negative; Low viral load; RT-qPCR; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Publication types

Review