Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

January 29, 2021

Characteristics and outcomes of clinically diagnosed RT-PCR swab negative COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study

Category:

Topic:

Keywords (Tags):

One in five symptomatic patients admitted to the medical department who had a negative SARS-CoV-2 swab received a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 according to a retrospective cohort study from two large London hospitals. Swab-negative clinical COVID-19 cases were defined as (a) clinical COVID-19 or high level of suspicion as defined by the treating medical team (as recorded in the medical record); and (b) RT-PCR swab-negative on both initial and any subsequent testing.  Swab-negative clinical COVID-19 patients had better outcomes, with shorter length of hospital stay, reduced need for supplementary oxygen and reduced mortality.

Middleton et al. (Jan 27, 2021). Characteristics and outcomes of clinically diagnosed RT-PCR swab negative COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81930-0