The shedding of viral RNA from sputum outlasted the end of symptoms. Seroconversion occurred after 7 days in 50% of patients (and by day 14 in all patients), but was not followed by a rapid decline in viral load. COVID-19 can present as a mild illness of the upper respiratory tract. The confirmation of active virus replication in the upper respiratory tract has implications for the containment of COVID-19.
Zdroj: Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID-2019 | Nature
Over the 4 days of infection before the typical time of symptom onset (day 5), the probability of a false-negative result in an infected person decreases from 100% (95% CI, 100% to 100%) on day 1 to 67% (CI, 27% to 94%) on day 4. On the day of symptom onset, the median false-negative rate was 38% (CI, 18% to 65%). This decreased to 20% (CI, 12% to 30%) on day 8 (3 days after symptom onset) then began to increase again, from 21% (CI, 13% to 31%) on day 9 to 66% (CI, 54% to 77%) on day 21.
Poverty also is linked to a higher risk of infection, and Dr. Goyal’s research, published on Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, found that children from low-income families were much more likely to become infected than those with the most affluent parents. The higher infection rates appear to be driven by greater exposure to the virus, Dr. Goyal said: “There’s nothing to indicate that there’s some sort of genetic predisposition to Covid based on race or ethnicity.”
Zdroj: Why the Coronavirus More Often Strikes Children of Color – The New York Times
