Evaluating the Presence of Replication-Competent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) From Nursing Home Residents With Persistently Positive Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Results

Joseph D Lutgring; Farrell A Tobolowsky; Kelly M Hatfield; Nicholas B Lehnertz; Maureen M Sullivan; Karen G Martin; Amelia Keaton; D Joseph Sexton; Azaibi Tamin; Jennifer L Harcourt; Natalie J Thornburg; Sujan C Reddy; John A Jernigan

doi:10.1093/cid/ciab436

Evaluating the Presence of Replication-Competent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) From Nursing Home Residents With Persistently Positive Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Results

Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Feb 11;74(3):525-528. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab436.

Affiliations

¹ COVID-19 Response Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
² Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
³ Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
⁴ Healthcare Associated Infections/Antimicrobial Resistance Program, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Abstract

Replication-competent virus has not been detected in individuals with mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) more than 10 days after symptom onset. It is unknown whether these findings apply to nursing home residents. Of 273 specimens collected from nursing home residents >10 days from the initial positive test, none were culture positive.

Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2; nursing home; viral culture.

Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Nursing Homes
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reverse Transcription
SARS-CoV-2*

Grants and funding

CC/CDC HHS/United States