Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viral load in respiratory and feces specimens of children with coronavirus disease 2019

Ma, Xiang; Su, Liang; Cheng, Lu; Zhang, Zhaohua; Sun, Jing; Liu, Miao; Wang, Jing; Jiang, Xuemei; Zhang, Yun; Han, Yuling; Zhang, Zhongfa; Gai, Zhongtao

Background: The viral load kinetics of children with coronavirus disease 2019 is not clear. Materials & methods: The viral load of throat, nasal and feces specimens of 10 children with coronavirus disease 2019 were detected and analyzed. Results: The virus load of nasal and throat specimen decreased extremely and all respiratory specimens tested negative on the third week after they were admitted. All children showed positive PCR results in their feces. A total of 70% children showed positive results at the fourth week and 40% children showed positive results in their feces at the fifth week. All children tested negative on the sixth week. Conclusion: The positive rate of stool in children was higher than that in adults and the shedding time of stool was longer than that of respiratory specimen.