Skip to main content
. 2020 Jul 22;58:102916. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102916

Table 2.

Summary of studies describing duration of viral detection as days after symptom onset

No. Author Design Threshold Gene Age* Clinical severity Reported Treatment Size Sampling Location 2 consecutive negatives Day -1
 2 consecutive negatives Last positive
 Recurrence Day -1
 Recurrence Last positive
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
1 Cai J. [5] Case series Ct > 35
ORF1ab,N		 6•5 Mild NS 10 Nasopharyngeal 12•0 4•8
6 Stool 20•0 6•5
2 Caly [33] Case series NS 58•0 Moderate None 1 Nasopharyngeal 11•0 NA 8•0 NA
1 Sputum 12•0 NA 12•0 NA
3 Chang [6] Case series NS 35•5 Mild aIFN, L/R or other AVs 16 Throat 8•6 3•8
4 Chen [17] RS Ct ≥ 37
ORF1ab, N		 39•0 Moderate NS 16 Pharyngeal 10•9 4•9 8•3 3•9 12.6 6.7 11.0 6.5
9 Faeces 16•2 7•2 12•2 4•9 19.2 9.4 15.1 5.8
14 Sputum 26•2 13•9 24•9 13•4 30•6 14•0 30•1 13•6
Severe 2 Pharyngeal 23•0 9•9 18•5 4•9 23•0 9•9 19•5 4•9
2 Sputum 31•5 24•7 29•0 25•5 28•0 15•6 37•0 13•5
6•5 Mild 2 Faeces 12•5 2•1 12•5 2•1 12•5 2•1 12•5 2•1
3 Pharyngeal 7•7 1•2 4•0 3•0 7•7 1•2 4•0 3•0
1 Sputum 13•0 NA 12•0 NA
Moderate 1 Faeces 9•0 NA 9•0 NA
1 Pharyngeal 8•0 NA 6•0 NA
5 Chen [31] Case series NS 46•0 Moderate NS 1 Oropharyngeal 11•0 NA 8•0 NA 19•0 NA 17•0 NA
6 Cheng [34] Case series TCDC 55•0 Moderate NS 1 Sputum 15•0 NA 14•0 NA
1 Oropharyngeal 19•0 NA 10•0 NA
7 Colavita [29] Case series Ct > 45
ND		 65•0 Mild NS 1 Nasal 20•0 NA 16•0 NA
1 Ocular 27 NA
8 Grace Lui [20] Prospective Cohort Study < 694 copies/mL;
Ct > 39•9
N		 58•0 Mild L/R 1 Nasopharyngeal 10•0 NA 8•0 NA
1 Stool 7•0 NA 7•0 NA
Moderate 5 Nasopharyngeal 14•6 5•6 14•0 5•8
1 Plasma 5•0 NA 3•0 NA
5 Stool 12•2 4•1 10•6 2•6
2 Tracheal aspirate/Sputum 20•5 0•7 20•5 0•7
Severe 5 Nasopharyngeal 15•4 5•7 13•0 4•5 16•8 8•3 14•6 9•2
1 Plasma 16•0 NA 14•0 5•9 15•7 6•8 14•3 6•8
5 Stool 18•6 2•5 18•6 7•8
5 Tracheal aspirate/Sputum 22•6 5•0 21•6 4•9
9 Han [21] Case series [35] 44•0 Mild NS 22 Sputum 38•4 8•8
10 Holshue [36] Case series CDC 35•0 Moderate NS 1 Oropharyngeal 10•0 NA
1 Nasopharyngeal 11•0 NA
11 Hu [15] Case series Ct > 38 ORF1ab, N 28•0 Mild NS 3 Nasopharyngeal 11•7 2•3 11•0 2•6
3 Anal 18•3 8•4 18•0 8•4
12 Hu [23] RS NS,
ORF1ab, N		 53•0 Mild aIFN 4 Pharyngeal 10•5 6•0 10•0 6•4
10•0 1 Pharyngeal 12•0 NA 11•0 NA
13 Huang [22] RS Ct > 40 ORF1ab, N 59•5 Severe Mechanic ventilation 13 Anal swab/ Faeces 24•6 11•4 24•2 11•7 29•7 12•3 28•7 12•2
12 Nasal swab 21•0 8•9 20•9 8•7 21•8 11•0 22•8 11•0
2 Blood 10•5 0•7
9 Throat 20•6 9•4 19•7 9•4 20•6 9•4 19•8 9•4
16 Sputum 25•4 8•8 25•1 8•8 33•53 12•3 33•2 12•4
14 Kujawski [24],+ Case series NS 53•0 Mild None 10 Oro/Naso-pharyngeal# 18•1 4•8 17•3 5•2
2 Stool 20•0 0 17•0 0
Severe None 3 Stool 20•0 4•0 17•3 5•8
8 Oro/Naso-pharyngeal# 16•9 7•1 13•5 4•3
Remdesivir 2 Stool 13•0 1•4 9•0 4•2
6 Oro/Naso-pharyngeal# 11•8 9•7 9•8 7•3
15 Lee [37] Case series NA,
RdRp, E, N		 46•0 Moderate AV 1 Oropharyngeal 19•0 NA 6•0 NA
1 Nasopharyngeal 18•0 NA 18•0 NA
16 Lescure [25] Case series < 101 copies/mL,
RdRP-IP1, RdRp, E		 38•5 Mild None 4 Nasopharyngeal 8•6 0•6
2 Stool 16•5 3•5
80•0 Severe Remdesivir 1 Blood 15 NA
1 Nasopharyngeal 24•0 NA
17 Lim [30] Case series NS 54•0 Mild L/R + other 1 Sputum 10•0 NA 10•0 NA 16•0 NA 16•0 NA
18 Liu [19] Case series Ct > 43
E, RdRP, N		 42•5 Mild L/R + aIFN 5 Nasal/Throat 12•4 3•8
Severe 5 Nasal Throat 12•2 6•5
19 Marchand-Senéca [38] Case series Ct ≥ 40
RdRp, E, N, ORF3a		 56•0 Moderate NS 1 Mid-turbinate 8•0 NA
1 Throat 6•0 NA
1 Nasopharyngeal 22•0 NA
20 Pongpirul [14] Case series WHO 61•0 Mild Antimicrobials 11 Oro/naso-pharyngeal 16•5 9•3
21 Scott [39] Case series CDC 26•0 Mild None 1 Nasopharyngeal 18•0 NA
1 Sputum 8 NA
1 Oropharyngeal 16•0 NA
22 Tan [26] RS NS 7•0 Mild NS 3 Throat 15•0 1•7 14•3 1•2
Moderate 2 Stool 17•5 7•8 16•5 5•0
4 Throat 14•5 6•0 13•5 6•0
23 Tan [40] Case series Ct = 45
ORF1		 73•0 Severe Yes, NS 1 Throat 15•0 NA
1 Rectal 22•0 NA
24 Thevarajan[41] Case series Ct ≥ 45
E		 47•0 Moderate NS 1 Nasopharyngeal 6•0 NA
1 Faeces 6•0 NA
1 Faeces 6•0 NA
25 Woelfel [7] Case series < 102 copies/mL
E, RdRp		 Adult
NS		 Mild None 8 Stool 15•3 7•0
9 Sputum 16•9 4•9
9 Oro/naso-pharyngeal 11•2 3•4
26 Wu [8] Case series NS
N, E		 41
(mean)		 Moderate AV (88%), aIFN (12%) 33 Throat 15•2 5•9
33 Faeces 26•7 12•3
27 Xu [16] Prospective Obser-vational Study Ct > 40
ORFab1
N

  • 4•8

 Mild aIFN 7 Nasopharyngeal 5•7 4•7 4•3 4•8
6 Rectal 16•7 6•0 16•5 6•3
28 Young [9] Case series Ct > 38
N, S, ORF1ab		 37•0 Mild None 12 Nasopharyngeal 15•2 5•5 14•9 5•7 15•4 5•4 15•3 5•5
3 Stool 6•7 0•6
56•0 Moderate L/R (5/6) 1 Stool 8•0 NA
4 Nasopharyngeal 7•0 5•3 6•0 5•6 9•8 5•3 9•0 5•9
Severe 1 Blood 13 NA
2 Nasopharyngeal 18•0 11•3 18•0 11•3 20•0 8•5 20•0 8•5
29 Yu [10] RS < 25 copies/mL 37•0 Mild NS 17 Nasopharyngeal 15•1 5•0 15•0 5•0
30 Zhang [11] Case series CDC China 8•0 Mild aIFN 3 Throat 17•0 6•1
31 Zheng [12] RS < 1000 copies/mL
ORFab1		 47•5 Mild aIFN, L/R, arbidol, favipiravir, darunavir-cobicistat 21 Sputum/saliva 17•0 10•0
7 Blood 17•1 10•4
13 Stool 21•8 8•3
57•0 Severe 73 Sputum/saliva 22•8 10•8
34 Blood 17•5 7•3
40 Stool 25•3 12•0
32 Zhou [18] Case series CDC China 58•0 Severe NS 41 Throat 30•8 8•7
33 Zou [13] Case series Ct ≥ 40
N, Orf1b		 59•0 Mild NS 12 Nasal 8•6 3•7 8•2 3•4 9•2 5•0 9•0 5•1
10 Throat 7•0 3•9 6•6 3•4 8•1 4•3 7•6 3•9
Severe 3 Nasal 10•3 3•8 10•3 3•8 12•0 1•0 12•0 1•0
3 Throat 9•3 4•5 9•3 4•5 13•0 1•7 13•0 1•7

Blank cells apply if sampling was daily (value of Day -1 equals value of last positive) or no recurrence occurred. Samples that were not tested positive are excluded in this overview.

aIFN: Alpha Interferon, AV: Antiviral, CDC: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CT: Threshold Cycle, E: Envelope, L/R: Lopinavir/Ritonavir, N: Truncated nucleocapsid, NA: Not applicable, ND: Not determined, NS: Not specified, ORF = Open reading frame, RdRp: RNA dependent RNA polymerase, RS: Retrospective, S: Spike, SD: Standard deviation, WHO: World health organization;

⁎

Age in years and displayed as median (if not otherwise specified),

#

Oro- and nasopharyngeal combined,

+

sputum samples from this study were excluded as the majority captured only one baseline sample.