COVID-19 Roundup: Reinfection, Remdesivir, Saliva Testing
Reinfection
The first case of reinfection with COVID-19 in the US has been reported. The case report, which has not yet been peer reviewed, involves a 25-year-old man who tested positive in April after having mild symptoms, then tested positive again after developing more severe symptoms in May.
Remdesivir
The US FDA has expanded its emergency use authorization of remdesivir to now include the treatment of all adult and pediatric patients with either suspected or confirmed COVID-19, regardless of the severity of their disease.
Saliva Tests
A letter to the editor published in the New England Journal of Medicine detailed a study involving 70 patients with confirmed COVID-19. Cases were confirmed via nasopharyngeal swabs, and additional, self-collected saliva samples were provided by the patients.
Overall, more SARS-CoV-2 RNA were detected in saliva specimens than were in nasopharyngeal swab specimens. Saliva specimens also remained positive for a longer duration than did nasopharyngeal samples, with 81% and 71% of samples, respectively, still positive at 1 to 5 days after diagnosis.
COVID-19 Updates from CDC
As of August 28, 2020, the CDC has received reports of a total of 43,204,184 specimens tested for SARS-CoV-2, of which, 3,836,639 (8.9%) were positive.
Levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) are low, but high for the time of year. Levels of COVID-19-like illness have decreased since the previous week, with 6 of 10 regions showing decreases or stable levels and 2 regions reporting increases in the percentage of positive test results.
Overall, the cumulative COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate is 156.8 per 100,000, with the highest rates in individuals aged 65 years and older (425.7 per 100,000) and 50-64 years (235.7 per 100,000).
Percentages of deaths attributed to pneumonia, influenza, or COVID-19 is 7.9% for week 34, which is lower than the 12.3% seen the week before.
—Michael Potts
References:
First U.S. novel coronavirus reinfection case identified in Nevada study. News release. Reuters. August 28, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-reinfection/first-u-s-covid-19-reinfection-case-identified-in-nevada-study-idUSKBN25O2L9
COVID-19 Update: FDA broadens emergency use authorization for veklury (remdesivir) to include all hospitalized patients for treatment of COVID-19. US Food and Drug Administration. August 28, 2020. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/covid-19-update-fda-broadens-emergency-use-authorization-veklury-remdesivir-include-all-hospitalized
Wyllie AL, Fournier J, Casanovas-Massana A, et al. Saliva or nasopharyngeal swab specimens for detection of SARS-CoV-2. Published online August 28, 2020. NEJM. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2016359
COVIDView: a weekly surveillance summary of US COVID-19 Activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html. Updated August 7, 2020. Accessed August 10, 2020.