How long to be negative? Prolonged viral shedding and the implications
on service provision in Cardiac Surgery
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which
originated in China, is the cause of the global pandemic Coronavirus
Disease 19 (Covid-19). To date, there is no widely available vaccine or
treatment, hence containment strategies are currently centred around
measures ameliorating human transmission via social distancing and
quarantine. Due to the magnitude of the pandemic, elective operative
work had been halted within cardiac surgery at our institution and
protocols adapted to facilitate safe operating and discharge of surgical
patients. With rapidly emerging data on the characteristics of
SARS-CoV-2, we present 2 in-patient cases at our institution with
prolonged viral shedding detected on real-time polymerase chain reaction
(RT-PCR) oropharyngeal swabs; one asymptomatic, and another
pauci-symptomatic. These cases highlight the need for further research
into the duration of viral shedding and the viability of SARS-CoV-2,
especially with respect to viral transmission, over a drawn-out period.