Clinical Features and Lymphocyte Subsets in Recovered Covid-19 Patients With Prolonged Viral Rna Shedding Duration

Abstract Background:The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in many countries.Data about viral shedding duration, particularly the prolonged ones of the pathogen SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is scarce. The longest viral RNA sheddingduration reported previously was 37 days. Herein, we report the clinical and immunologic features ofrecovered COVID-19cases with a medium viral RNA shedding duration of 44 days. Cases presentation: Nine laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases from Wuhan with viral RNA shedding duration more than 30 days were included in our study,5 of them were moderate.Althoughinflammatory markers were significantlyhigher, the medium duration in severepatients was similar to that in moderate patients (44.5days vs. 43.6days). Severepatients showed higher NK cells levels, although the T cells and B cells were lower as compared with moderate patients. Contrary to previous reports in influenza, prolonged viralshedding time did not cause poor prognosis in this study.Conclusions: There could be characteristic immunological dysfunction in COVID-19 patients with prolonged viral shedding durationand interestingly, prolonged viral shedding duration seemed not to be related with poor prognosis.