Abstract
We recently experienced a patient with viral isolation by culture 4 months after the acute infection. an 83-year-old Japanese man visited our outpatient clinic with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. The patient was diagnosed with a COVID-19 infection by a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test. Three months after his clinic visit, he had regained most of his pre-COVID-19 level of health.
However, qRT-PCR tests continued to be positive. At day 111, specimens from a nasopharyngeal swab and sputum were inoculated into VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells.(1) Three to five days post-inoculation, cytopathic effects were observed, and viral RNA was detected in the culture supernatant by qRT-PCR (Ct values: 29–37). The culture supernatant of the VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells cocultured with the nasopharyngeal swab was passaged to the fresh VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells, and after 3 days of the passage, cytopathic effect was observed again. In the supernatant of the passaged cell culture, viral RNA was detected by qRT-PCR (Ct value: 29). By sequencing the qRT-PCR product using Illumina iSEQ100, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequence was verified. These results indicate the presence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in the nasopharyngeal specimen even at day 111. Although SARS-CoV-2 was present, the patient developed neutralizing antibodies by a microtiter method. We tested but did not isolate SARS-CoV-2 in samples of saliva, urine, blood, or stool.
Patients with ongoing symptoms of COVID-19, long-haulers, could be chronically infected with COVID-19, although they might be incapable of transmission.
【초록키워드】 neutralizing antibody, SARS-CoV-2, Saliva, Neutralizing antibodies, qRT-PCR, Sequencing, Infection, upper respiratory tract infection, respiratory tract infection, Transmission, Symptom, sputum, Nasopharyngeal swab, Stool, Health, Viral, Culture, COVID-19 infection, cells, acute infection, Cell culture, Patient, Isolation, Ct value, Urine, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Viral RNA, Japanese, respiratory, Illumina, Quantitative, upper respiratory tract, Blood, Cytopathic effect, Ct values, reverse transcriptase, be positive, Chain Reaction, clinic visit, outpatient clinic, sequence, specimen, passage, culture supernatant, symptoms of COVID-19, cytopathic effects, positive, nasopharyngeal specimen, supernatant, FIVE, Cell, TMPRSS2 cells, tested, inoculated, the patient, diagnosed, infected with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Patient, infected with SARS-CoV-2,