June 11, 2020

Longitudinal Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA Among Asymptomatic Staff in Five Colorado Skilled Nursing Facilities Epidemiologic Virologic and Sequence Analysis

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

• [pre-print, not peer reviewed] Quicke et al. monitored the presence of viral RNA and infectious virus among workers at five skilled nursing facilities in Colorado. They reported that the percentage of nasopharyngeal swabs that tested positive for viral RNA varied considerably by facility, but there was a general downward trend over the course of the study period. Levels of viral RNA also tended to decline over the duration of infection and corresponded to low levels of infectious virus.  
• A high proportion of asymptomatic infection was observed, suggesting that asymptomatic individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2 may contribute to viral transmission within the workplace. 

Quicke et al. (June 9, 2020). Longitudinal Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA Among Asymptomatic Staff in Five Colorado Skilled Nursing Facilities Epidemiologic Virologic and Sequence Analysis. Pre-print downloaded June 11 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.08.20125989