February 11, 2021

Symptoms and Laboratory Manifestations of Mild COVID-19 in a Repatriated Cruise Ship Cohort

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): clinical characteristics, testing, transmission

Among 49 passengers traveling from Uruguay to Australia on a cruise ship with high COVID-19 incidence in April 2020, 42% were asymptomatic and only 15% of symptomatic cases reported fever. Serial respiratory and rectal swabs were positive for 10% and 5% of participants, respectively, after a median of 3 weeks post-symptom onset. The authors suggest that in a similarly closed setting, true COVID-19 incidence could be almost double what is suggested by symptom-based screening.

Bailie et al. (Feb 10, 2021). Symptoms and Laboratory Manifestations of Mild COVID-19 in a Repatriated Cruise Ship Cohort. Epidemiology and Infection. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268821000315