Prolonged viral shedding and new mutations of COVID-19 could complicate the control of the pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The studies of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have mainly focused on epidemiological and clinical features of patients, but transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 virus after patients have recovered is still poorly understood. Here we report a case with prolonged viral shedding of COVID-19 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This patient started to show myalgia and malaise in Wuhan, and the onset of the fever was on days 7-14 of the illness. All clinical and radiological results returned to normal after day 26, however, viral shedding was still evident 14?days later. Sequence analysis of the genome of the Taiwanese SARS-CoV-2 isolate from this patient reveals new mutations in viral replicase and ORF3a, indicating that COVID-19 evolves very quickly. Prolonged viral shedding and new mutations in the viral genome could potentially complicate the control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Chen CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7497832 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature