Four months after the first positive RT-PCR (3rd F/U)
A mong the 41 patients who had tested negative, 32 patients
(39.02%) continued their participation in the study. Four patients had
a positive RT-PCR result (12.5%). None of the patients who tested
positive were symptomatic in previous studies; but now three of them
were mildly symptomatic; also, two patients had underlying medical
conditions (Figure-1). None of the patients who tested negative were
symptomatic. The underlying medical conditions, history of using
immunosuppressive drugs, initial disease severity, admission duration
and history of ICU admission in the first episode of infection were not
significantly different between patients who had a positive RT-PCR
result and those who did not (P-value: 0.67, 0.59, 0.64, 0.64, 0.71).
The IgM levels were <1.1 g/L in 30 (94%) patients (negative);
and positive in 2 patients. The patients who tested positive were
asymptomatic and did not have a positive RT-PCR test in any of the
previous follow-up studies. The IgG levels were >1.1 g/L in
30 (94%) patients (positive); and negative in 2 patients. The mean IgG
level was 7.94±3.67 g/L and ranged between 1.48-14.5 g/L. The two
patients, who had a negative IgG test result, did not test positive in
any of the follow-up RT-PCR tests.
All patients recovered with no further complications and none of the
patients who re-tested positive required readmission or further medical
treatment.