Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 26 asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers

Pan, Yanfeng; Yu, Xue; Du, Xinwei; Li, Qingqing; Li, Xianyang; Qin, Tao; Wang, Miaomiao; Jiang, Minlin; Li, Jie; Li, Weiguo; Zhang, Qian; Xu, Zhiwei; Zhang, Lu

BACKGROUND: We retrospectively analysed 26 persistently asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) carriers. METHODS: Epidemiological and clinical characteristics from the 26 asymptomatic patients with positive results for SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing were obtained. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients (84.6%) correlated with clustering occurrence. The median period from contact to diagnosis and the last positive nucleic acid test was 19 (8–24 days) and 21.5 days (10–36 days), respectively. The median period from diagnosis to negative nucleic acid test was significantly different between patients with normal or atypical chest computed tomography (CT) findings (n=16, 61.5%; 7.5 days [2–20 days]) and patients with typical ground-glass or patchy opacities on CT(n=10, 38.5%; 12.5 days[8–22 days]; P<0.01). Seven patients (70.0%) with initial positive nucleic acid test results had a negative result simultaneously with improved CT findings. Obvious improvement in CT findings was observed in three patients (30.0%) despite positive nucleic acid test results. CONCLUSION: In asymptomatic patients, changes in biochemical and inflammatory variables are small and changes on chest CT can occur. It is worth noting the long existence of SARS-CoV-2 in some asymptomatic patients and false-negative results need to be considered in SARS-CoV-2nucleic acid test.