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. 2020 Apr 9:ciaa351. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa351

Factors associated with prolonged viral RNA shedding in patients with COVID-19

Kaijin Xu 1,#, Yanfei Chen 1,#, Jing Yuan 2,#, Ping Yi 1,#, Cheng Ding 1,#, Wenrui Wu 1,#, Yongtao Li 1, Qin Ni 1, Rongrong Zou 2, Xiaohe Li 2, Min Xu 1, Ying Zhang 1, Hong Zhao 1, Xuan Zhang 1, Liang Yu 1, Junwei Su 1, Guanjing Lang 1, Jun Liu 1, Xiaoxin Wu 1, Yongzheng Guo 1, Jingjing Tao 1, Ding Shi 1, Ling Yu 1, Qing Cao 1, Bing Ruan 1, Lei Liu 2, Zhaoqin Wang 2, Yan Xu 1, Yingxia Liu 2, Jifang Sheng 1, Lanjuan Li 1,✉
PMCID: PMC7184421  PMID: 32271376

Abstract

Background

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is becoming a public health emergency. Data are limited on the duration and host factors related to viral shedding.

Methods

In this retrospective study, risk factors associated with severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA shedding were evaluated in a cohort of 113 symptomatic patients from two hospitals outside Wuhan.

Results

The median duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection was 17 days (Interquartile Range [IQR], 13–22 days) as measured from illness onset. When comparing patients with early (<15 days) and late viral RNA clearance (≥15 days after illness onset), prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding was associated with male sex (p=0.009), old age (p=0.033), concomitated with hypertension (p=0.009), delayed admission to hospital after illness onset (p=0.001), severe illness at admission (p=0.049), invasive mechanical ventilation (p=0.006), and corticosteroid treatment (p=0.025). Patients with longer SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding duration had slower recovery of body temperature (p<0.001) and focal absorption on radiograph images (p<0.001) than patients with early SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance. Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 3.24 [95% CI, 1.31–8.02]), delayed hospital admission (OR, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.10–1.54]), and invasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 9.88 [95% CI, 1.11–88.02]) were independent risk factors for prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding.

Conclusions

Male sex, delayed admission to hospital after illness onset, and invasive mechanical ventilation were associated with prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding. Hospital admission and general treatments should be started as soon as possible in symptomatic COVID-19 patients, especially male patients.

Keywords: Coronavirus, viral shedding, risk factors, SARS-COV-2, COVID-19

Articles from Clinical Infectious Diseases: An Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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