Clinical characteristics of recovered COVID-19 patients with re-detectable positive RNA test

  1. Jianghong An
  2. Xuejiao Liao
  3. Tongyang Xiao
  4. Shen Qian
  5. Jing Yuan
  6. Haocheng Ye
  7. Furong Qi
  8. Chengguang Shen
  9. Lifei Wang
  10. Yang Liu
  11. Xiaoya Cheng
  12. Na Li
  13. Qingxian Cai
  14. Fang Wang
  15. Jun Chen
  16. Guojun Li
  17. Qiu’e Cai
  18. Yingxia Liu
  19. Yunfang Wang
  20. Feng Zhang
  21. Yang Fu
  22. Qing He
  23. Xiaohua Tan
  24. Lei Liu
  25. Zheng Zhang

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Abstract

No abstract available

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  1. Version published to 10.21037/atm-20-5602
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.03.26.20044222: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen (2020-115), which waived the requirement for written patient consent for this retrospective analysis.
    Consent: All patients gave their oral consent to participate in this retrospective study.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    ELISA assay for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibody: Microtiter plates (Sangon Biotech) were coated overnight at 4°C with 4 μg/mL recombinant SARS-CoV-2-RBD (Receptor binding domain) proteins (50 μL per well) expressed by our laboratory through 293-T cells.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG
    suggested: None
    After three washes, 100 μL of horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated goat anti-human IgG (for IgG antibody titer detection) and IgM (for IgM antibody titer detection) antibodies solution (Sangon Biotech) were added to each plate, respectively, and incubated at 37°C for 60 minutes.
    anti-human IgG (for IgG
    suggested: None
    IgM
    suggested: (Nicholas M. Kanaan at Michigan State University Cat# TOC1, RRID:AB_2832939)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analysis: A statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 (IBM, Chicago).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    This study has several limitations. First, this study is a single-center retrospective study and the duration of follow-up is short, and more clinical observations are needed to evaluate the potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 recurrence and infection. Second, dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in COVID-19 patients need to be monitored and evaluated for RP patients. Second, additional studies should measure the dynamic changes of serum specific antibody levels in RP patients and evaluate the continuous protective effect of serum specific antibodies on patients with COVID-19. Finally, we should differentiate RP patients from relapse ones from convalescent subjects, for who two distinct prevention and control strategies will be adopted. Taken together, our findings revealed the clinical features of RP patients who did not show recurrence of clinical symptoms and abnormal laboratory tests. However, hyper-sensitive detection methods revealed the existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in RP patient specimens tested to be negative using the commercial kit. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a more accurate quantitative assessment of the RNA dynamics and additional discharge criteria to help physicians make a decision. This study provided valuable empirical information and clinical evidence support for effective management of COVID-19 patients during convalescent period. Further study should evaluate the potential clinical significance and transmission risk of RP patients.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.03.26.20044222 on medRxiv