Prospective Clinical Assessments of Hospitalized Patients With Positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR Tests for Necessity of Isolation

Chanu Rhee; Meghan A Baker; Sanjat Kanjilal; Robert Tucker; Vineeta Vaidya; Amy Badwaik; Elizabeth Mermel Blaeser; Cassie Coughlin; Jennifer Elloyan; Candace Hsieh; Meghan Holtzman; Ofelia Solem; Michael Klompas

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab194

Prospective Clinical Assessments of Hospitalized Patients With Positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR Tests for Necessity of Isolation

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Apr 16;8(7):ofab194. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab194. eCollection 2021 Jul.

Authors

Chanu Rhee^{1

2

3}, Meghan A Baker^{1

2

3

4}, Sanjat Kanjilal^{1

2}, Robert Tucker³, Vineeta Vaidya³, Amy Badwaik³, Elizabeth Mermel Blaeser³, Cassie Coughlin⁴, Jennifer Elloyan³, Candace Hsieh⁴, Meghan Holtzman³, Ofelia Solem³, Michael Klompas^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Infection Control Department, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁴ Infection Control Department, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Abstract

We prospectively assessed 536 hospitalized patients with positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction tests for infectiousness based on symptoms, cycle thresholds, and SARS-CoV-2 history, with repeat testing and serologies in select cases. One hundred forty-eight (28%) patients were deemed noninfectious, most with evidence of prior infection, and managed on standard precautions without evidence of transmission.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; isolation; polymerase chain reaction; transmission-based precautions.