Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a paucisymptomatic patient: epidemiological and clinical challenge in settings with limited community transmission, Italy, February 2020

Emanuele Nicastri; Alessandra D'Abramo; Giovanni Faggioni; Riccardo De Santis; Andrea Mariano; Luciana Lepore; Filippo Molinari; Giancarlo Petralito; Silvia Fillo; Diego Munzi; Angela Corpolongo; Licia Bordi; Fabrizio Carletti; Concetta Castiletti; Francesca Colavita; Eleonora Lalle; Nazario Bevilacqua; Maria Letizia Giancola; Laura Scorzolini; Simone Lanini; Claudia Palazzolo; Angelo De Domenico; Maria Anna Spinelli; Paola Scognamiglio; Paolo Piredda; Raffaele Iacomino; Andrea Mone; Vincenzo Puro; Nicola Petrosillo; Antonio Battistini; Francesco Vairo; Florigio Lista; Giuseppe Ippolito; INMI and the Italian Army COVID-19 study groups

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.11.2000230

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a paucisymptomatic patient: epidemiological and clinical challenge in settings with limited community transmission, Italy, February 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 Mar;25(11):2000230. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.11.2000230.

Authors

Emanuele Nicastri^{1

2}, Alessandra D'Abramo^{1

2}, Giovanni Faggioni³, Riccardo De Santis³, Andrea Mariano¹, Luciana Lepore¹, Filippo Molinari³, Giancarlo Petralito³, Silvia Fillo³, Diego Munzi³, Angela Corpolongo¹, Licia Bordi¹, Fabrizio Carletti¹, Concetta Castiletti¹, Francesca Colavita¹, Eleonora Lalle¹, Nazario Bevilacqua¹, Maria Letizia Giancola¹, Laura Scorzolini¹, Simone Lanini¹, Claudia Palazzolo¹, Angelo De Domenico⁴, Maria Anna Spinelli³, Paola Scognamiglio¹, Paolo Piredda⁴, Raffaele Iacomino⁴, Andrea Mone⁴, Vincenzo Puro¹, Nicola Petrosillo¹, Antonio Battistini⁵, Francesco Vairo¹, Florigio Lista^{3

6}, Giuseppe Ippolito^{1

6}; INMI and the Italian Army COVID-19 study groups⁷

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Infectious Diseases 'Lazzaro Spallanzani' IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
² These authors contributed equally to this article and share first authorship.
³ Scientific Department, Italian Army Medical Center, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Clinical Sciences Department, Italian Army Medical Center, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Italian Army Surgeon General Office, Rome, Italy.
⁶ These authors contributed equally to this article and share last authorship.
⁷ The members of these groups are acknowledged at the end of the article.

PMID: 32209164
PMCID: PMC7096776
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.11.2000230

Abstract

Data concerning the transmission of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in paucisymptomatic patients are lacking. We report an Italian paucisymptomatic case of coronavirus disease 2019 with multiple biological samples positive for SARS-CoV-2. This case was detected using the World Health Organization protocol on cases and contact investigation. Current discharge criteria and the impact of extra-pulmonary SARS-CoV-2 samples are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; Italy; paucisymptomatic case.

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Viral / immunology
Asymptomatic Infections*
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
COVID-19 Testing
China
Clinical Laboratory Techniques
Contact Tracing
Coronavirus / genetics
Coronavirus / isolation & purification*
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
Coronavirus Infections / transmission
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Feces / virology*
Humans
Italy
Lung / diagnostic imaging*
Lung / pathology
Male
Nasopharynx / virology*
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
Pneumonia, Viral / therapy
Pneumonia, Viral / transmission
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
Quarantine
Radiography, Thoracic
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Travel*
Virus Shedding*
World Health Organization
Young Adult

Substances

Antibodies, Viral