Persistence of Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Positivity in COVID-19 Recovered Patients: A Call for Revised Hospital Discharge Criteria

Tahir Jameel; Mukhtiar Baig; Zohair J Gazzaz

doi:10.7759/cureus.9048

Persistence of Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Positivity in COVID-19 Recovered Patients: A Call for Revised Hospital Discharge Criteria

Cureus. 2020 Jul 7;12(7):e9048. doi: 10.7759/cureus.9048.

Authors

Tahir Jameel¹, Mukhtiar Baig², Zohair J Gazzaz¹

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
² Clinical Biochemistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.

Abstract

In the world scenario, the advent of COVID-19 has halted every aspect of life. It influenced every field of life, including the economy, and revealed the inadequacies in all nations' healthcare systems, from the most developed to the underdeveloped countries. There is a debate about the timing of antibodies production and detection during the disease. What is the significance of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) in symptom resolving period? In the present manuscript, we have evaluated these points.

Keywords: antibodies; covid-19; rt-pcr.

Publication types

Review