How Long Can A CoVid19 Patient Remain Infectious?

from Dr. Howard Smith OnCall · host Howard G. Smith MD, AM

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Pe8zlg-Y_sc Once infected with the coronavirus, a patient could shed live and infectious virus for nearly 3 weeks. Vietnamese researchers studied a 73 year old man admitted with a dry cough and difficulty breathing and diagnosed with a CoVid19 pneumonia. Over an 8 day period, he improved clinically with what turned out to be a mild case. Even so, longitudinal testing of his throat and gastrointestinal tract revealed persistently positive CoVid19 RT-PCR tests. His throat tests finally turned negative by hospital day 11- illness day 16. His rectal swabs remained positive until hospital day 18 - illness day 23. Many of us will become infected. Be prepared for a long quarantine. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.07.20032052v1.full.pdf #covid19 #coronavirus #shedding #quarantine