February 28, 2020

Negative Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal Swab Does Not Rule Out COVID-19

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• This case report describes a 28 year old patient diagnosed with pneumonia who initially tested negative for COVID-19 on nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal (NP/OP) samples. The patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR on broncho alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid on day 8 of hospitalization. This case highlights the importance of clinical suspicion in the epidemiologically-matched patients who have negative NP/OP swab.

Kaewpoowat et al. (Feb 26, 2020). Negative Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal Swab Does Not Rule Out COVID-19. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32102856