Asymptomatic individuals with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been identified via nucleic acid testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); however, the epidemiologic characteristics and viral shedding pattern of asymptomatic patients remain largely unknown. In this study, serological testing was applied when identifying nine asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 who showed persistent negative RT-PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid and no symptoms of COVID-19. Two asymptomatic cases were presumed to be index patients who had cleared the virus when their close contacts developed symptoms of COVID-19. Three of the asymptomatic cases were local individuals who spontaneously recovered before their presumed index patients developed symptoms of COVID-19. This report presents the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection that were undetected on RT-PCR tests in previous epidemiologic investigations probably due to the transient viral shedding duration.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, serological test, SARS-CoV-2, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Asymptomatic, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, coronavirus, Clinical characteristics, SARS-COV-2 infection, viral shedding, Local, virus, nucleic acid, Characteristics, Serological testing, Patient, Asymptomatic case, asymptomatic patient, RT-PCR test, close contact, acute respiratory syndrome, no symptom, individual, SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, symptoms of COVID-19, negative RT-PCR, asymptomatic individual, nine, applied, 【제목키워드】 Testing, identification,