Clinical features of COVID‐19 convalescent patients with re‐positive nucleic acid detection

Zhu, Hui; Fu, Liyun; Jin, Yinhua; Shao, Jiale; Zhang, Shun; Zheng, Nanhong; Fan, Lingyan; Yu, Zhe; Ying, Jun; Hu, Yaoren; Chen, Tongen; Chen, Yanglingzi; Chen, Min; Chen, Mingjue; Xiong, Zi; Kang, Junfei; Jin, Jiachang; Cai, Ting; Ye, Honghua

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a pandemic that has rapidly spread worldwide. Increasingly, confirmed patients being discharged according to the current diagnosis and treatment protocols, follow‐up of convalescent patients is important to knowing about the outcome. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed among 98 convalescent patients with COVID‐19 in a single medical center. The clinical features of patients during their hospitalization and 2‐week postdischarge quarantine were collected. RESULTS: Among the 98 COVID‐19 convalescent patients, 17 (17.3%) were detected positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) nucleic acid during 2‐week postdischarge quarantine. The median time from discharge to SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acid re‐positive was 4 days (IQR, 3‐8.5).The median time from symptoms onset to final respiratory SARS‐CoV‐2 detection of negative result was significantly longer in re‐positive group (34 days [IQR, 29.5‐42.5]) than in non‐re‐positive group (19 days [IQR, 16‐26]). On the other hand, the levels of CD3‐CD56 + NK cells during hospitalization and 2‐week postdischarge were higher in re‐positive group than in non‐re‐positive group (repeated measures ANOVA, P = .018). However, only one case in re‐positive group showed exudative lesion recurrence in pulmonary computed tomography (CT) with recurred symptoms. CONCLUSION: It is still possible for convalescent patients to show positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acid detection, but most of the re‐positive patients showed no deterioration in pulmonary CT findings. Continuous quarantine and close follow‐up for convalescent patients are necessary to prevent possible relapse and spread of the disease to some extent.