Table 3.

Study Participants With Positive SARS-CoV-2 Culture

	Patient 1	Patient 2	Patient 3	Patient 4	Patient 5
Age (years) and sex	68, Female	68, Male	50, Male	55, Female	61, Male
Immunocompromising conditiona	Severe • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma on maintenance rituximab • Kidney transplant on sirolimus and prednisone 2.5 mg daily	Severe • CLL with Richter’s transformation s/p autologous stem cell transplant on maintenance ibrutinib • Hypogammaglobulinemia	Nonsevere • Kidney transplant on mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, and prednisone 10 mg daily	Severe • Gastric MALT lymphoma and multiple sclerosis on maintenance ofatumumab • Hypogammaglobulinemia	None
COVID-19 antiviral and immunomodulatory therapy	Remdesivir, dexamethasone	Remdesivir, dexamethasone	Remdesivir, dexamethasone	Remdesivir, dexamethasone	Remdesivir, dexamethasone
Days from symptom onset
Hospital admission	6	12	5	5	4
ICU admission	17	15	13	7	4
Positive culture(s)	21, 23	26, 32	19, 21	27, 31, 45	10
Negative cultures	25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39	16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30	23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33	23, 25, 29, 33, 35	8, 12, 14
Anti-N IgG	Negative: 19	Not available	Not available	Negative: 17, 36, 57	Not available
Outcome	54 (died)	33 (died)	37 (died)	83 (discharged to LTACH)	17 (discharged to home)
Comments	Patient’s initial specimens grew SARS-CoV-2 in culture, but subsequent specimens were culture negative	9 upper respiratory tract specimens had similar Cn values (range, 20–24) but only 1 specimen collected on day 26 grew replication-competent virus. A lower respiratory tract specimen collected on day 32 from symptom onset also grew replication-competent SARS-CoV-2.	Patient had initial specimens with positive viral culture then subsequent specimens turned negative for culture.	Patient had recurrence of detectable replication-competent virus 45 days after symptom onset after return to the ICU with worsening respiratory and systemic symptoms. This was preceded by clinical recovery and specimens with negative viral culture. An alternative explanation for clinical deterioration was not identified. Results of whole-genome sequencing of this patient’s isolates were consistent with a single SARS-CoV-2 infection rather than new or superinfection with SARS-CoV-2. Patient declined further specimen collection.

Abbreviations: CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia; Cn, cycle number; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; ICU, intensive care unit; IgG, immunoglobulin G; LTACH, long-term acute care hospital; MALT, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; s/p, status post.

^aFraaij et al [11].