Follow-up of patients with COVID-19 by the Delta variant after hospital discharge in Guangzhou, Guandong, China
Document title: Follow-up of patients with COVID-19 by the Delta variant after hospital discharge in Guangzhou, Guandong, China
Journal: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo
Database:
System number: 000547848
ISSN: 0036-4665
Authors: 1
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Institutions: 1Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou. China
2Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou. China
Year:
Volumen: 64
Country: Brasil
Language: Inglés
English abstract The B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has contributed to a new increment in cases across the globe. We conducted a prospective follow-up of COVID-19 cases to explore the recurrence and potential propagation risk of the Delta variant and discuss potential explanations for the infection recurrence. A prospective, non-interventional follow-up of discharged patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infections by the Delta variant in Guangdong, China, from May 2021 to June 2021 was conducted. The subjects were asked to complete a physical health examination and undergo nucleic acid testing and antibody detection for the laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19. In total, 20.33% (25/123) of patients exhibited recurrent positive results after discharge. All patients with infection recurrence were asymptomatic and showed no abnormalities in the pulmonary computed tomography. The time from discharge to the recurrent positive testing was usually between 1-33 days, with a mean time of 9.36 days. The cycle threshold from the real-time polymerase chain reaction assay that detected the recurrence of positivity ranged from 27.48 to 39.00, with an average of 35.30. The proportion of vaccination in the non-recurrent group was higher than that in the recurrently positive group (26% vs. 4%; χ2 = 7.902; P < 0.05). Two months after discharge, the most common symptom was hair loss and 59.6% of patients had no long-term symptoms at all. It is possible for the Delta variant SARS-CoV-2 patients after discharge to show recurrent positive results of nucleic acid detection; however, there is a low risk of continuous community transmission. Both, the physical and mental quality of life of discharged patients were significantly affected. Our results suggest that it makes sense to implement mass vaccination against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Keyword: COVID-19,
SARS-CoV-2,
Follow-up survey,
Delta variant
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