Open AccessCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admission screening and assessment of infectiousness at an academic medical center in Iowa, 2020
Author(s) -
Mohammed Alsuhaibani,
Takaaki Kobayashi,
Alexandra Trannel,
Stephanie Holley,
Oluchi Abosi,
Kyle Jenn,
Holly Meacham,
Lorinda Sheeler,
William Etienne,
Angelique Dains,
Mary Kukla,
Emily K. Ward,
Bradley Ford,
Michael B. Edmond,
Melanie Wellington,
Daniel J. Diekema,
Jorge Salinas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
infection control and hospital epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.243
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1559-6834
pISSN - 0899-823X
DOI - 10.1017/ice.2021.294
Subject(s) - covid-19 , coronavirus , center (category theory) , medicine , betacoronavirus , coronavirus infections , pandemic , virology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak , chemistry , crystallography
Patients admitted to the hospital may unknowingly carry severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and hospitals have implemented SARS-CoV-2 admission screening. However, because SARS-CoV-2 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays may remain positive for months after infection, positive results may represent active or past infection. We determined the prevalence and infectiousness of patients who were admitted for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 but tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on admission screening.