Prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 in feces of pediatric patients during the convalescent phase

Yuhan Xing; Wei Ni; Qin Wu; Wenjie Li; Guoju Li; Jianning Tong; Xiufeng Song; Quansheng Xing

Two pediatric patients (case 1 and case 2) and their family members with SARS-CoV-2 infection were admitted in Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital. During clinical practice, we noticed that the time for viral RNA in respiratory specimens turning negative was similar between pediatric patients and infected adults (these children's family members). At this point, adult patients had negative results for nucleic acid testing in fecal specimens, whereas SARS-CoV-2 RNA remained detectable in stools from the two infected children. Therefore, we conducted a quarantine and surveillance protocol for the children and their family members who were already qualified for hospital discharge according to current standards after recovery with two consecutively negative RT-PCR test results in throat swabs (sampling interval at least 1 day). Concerned about the possibility of fecal-oral transmission, we recorded the timeline of changes in nucleic acid testing results in both throat swabs and fecal samples collected from these patients (Figure 2 ). All adult patients of the two families showed negative results for fecal SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. Strikingly, viral RNA remained detectable in stools of the two children for 8 and 20 days, respectively, after nucleic acid turning negative in respiratory samples.