Jornal de Ensaios Clínicos
Acesso livre
ISSN: 2167-0870
ISSN: 2167-0870
Lan Chen, Zhen-Yu Zhang, Xiao-Bin Zhang, Su-Zhen Zhang, Qiu-Ying Han, Zhi-Peng Feng, Jian-Guo Fu, Xiong-Xiao, Hui-Ming Chen, Li-Long Liu, Xian-Li Chen, Yu-Pei Lan, De-Jin Zhong, Lan Hu, Jun-Hui Wang, Zhen-Yu Yin*
Background: In China, the patients with previously negative RT-PCR results again test positive during the post-discharge isolation period. We aimed to determine the clinical characteristics of these “recurrent-positive” patients.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 15 recurrent-positive patients and 107 control patients with non-recurrent, moderate COVID-19 treated in Wuhan, China. Clinical data and laboratory results were comparatively analyzed.
Results: Recurrent-positive patients had moderate disease. The rate of recurrent-positive disease in our hospital was 1.87%. Recurrent-positive patients were significantly younger (43(35-54) years) than control patients (60(43-69) years) (P=0.011). The overall disease course was significantly longer in recurrent-positive patients (36(34-45) days) than in control patients (15(7-30) days) (P=0.001). The time required for the first conversion of RT-PCR results from positive to negative was significantly longer in recurrent-positive patients (14(10-17) days) than in control patients (6(3-9) days) (P=0.011). Serum COVID-19 antibody levels were significantly lower in recurrent-positive patients than in control patients (IgM: 13.69 ± 4.38 vs. 68.10 ± 20.85 AU/ mL, P=0.015; IgG: 78.53 ± 9.30 vs. 147.85 ± 13.33 AU/mL, P<0.0001).
Conclusion: Recurrent-positive patients were younger than control patients. The first hospitalization time was significantly longer in recurrent-positive patients than in control patients. COVID-19 IgM/IgG antibody levels were significantly lower in recurrent-positive patients than in control patients, which may explain why the virus was not fully eliminated from the body and was able to replicate again after the initial “clinical cure.”