Time to resolution of infection in COVID-19 patients: the experience of a tertiary medical center in Israel.

Lubart, Emily; Gal, Gilad; Mizrahi, Eliyahu H; Tzabary, Ahuva; Baumohl, Ehuda; Pinco, Erica; Idkiedek, Zuhdi; Ali, Eisa Haj; Berger, Maya; Goltsman, Galina

With the coronavirus disease spreading, reports indicated that young patients are usually asymptomatic with a short convalescence period. The current study compares the time to resolution of infection in symptomatic versus asymptomatic patients. Seventy- six patients aged 44.4±23.3 years were admitted to the COVID-19 Unit during the study period. Data was collected from patients' records. Throat and nasal swabs for the RT-PCR COVID-19 were collected. Time to resolution of infection was defined as the number of days from the date of the first COVID-19 positive outcome to the second consecutive negative PCR results. Most patients showed between 1-6 COVID-19 signs and symptoms (71.1%) and the rest were asymptomatic. No association was found between the time to resolution of infection and the presence of COVID-19 signs and symptoms (symptomatic: Md 10.0 95% CI 8.4-11.6; asymptomatic: Md 15.0 95% CI 10.5-15.5; p=0.54). Age was not correlated with the number of COVID-19 signs and symptoms (r=0.13, p=0.37) and with the time to resolution of infection (r=0.06, p=0.58). In mild to moderate symptomatic patients, the time to resolution of infection from COVID-19 is not different from asymptomatic patients.