bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Older age is associated with sustained detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab samples
May 2020 • Takeshi Hattori, Masaru Amishima, Daisuke Morinaga, Keisuke Kamada, Sho Nakakubo, Yu Yamashita, Yasuo Shichinohe, Shinichi Fujisawa, Mutsumi Nishida,…
Abstract PCR testing of nasopharyngeal swab samples is used for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and for determining timing of discharge. The viral load usually declines at convalescent phase, but sometimes remained positive for a long time even after relief of symptoms. In this study, we identified older age is associated with sustained detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab samples.