SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic and symptomatic patients and risk for transfusion transmission

Corman, Victor M; Rabenau, Holger F; Adams, Ortwin; Oberle, Doris; Funk, Markus B; Keller-Stanislawski, Brigitte; Timm, Joerg; Drosten, Christian; Ciesek, Sandra

Oral swabs, sputum and blood samples from 18 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were examined using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. Whereas oral swabs or sputum from the lower respiratory tract were tested RT-PCR positive in all patients, RNAemia was neither detected in 3 patients without symptoms nor in 14 patients with flu-like symptoms, fever or pneumonia. The only patient with RNAemia suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and was artificially ventilated in an intensive care unit. Risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through blood components in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals therefore seems negligible but further studies are needed.