key: cord-0850685-8l7zukg4 authors: Lin, Yi-Chun; Cheng, Chien-Yu; Cheng-Pin, Chen; Cheng, Shu-Hsing; Chang, Sui-Yuan; Hsueh, Po-Ren title: A case of transient existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the respiratory tract with the absence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response date: 2020-05-26 journal: Int J Infect Dis DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.070 sha: 838020b48b9e6c6f9f6c0b59d4bdc7db74b42040 doc_id: 850685 cord_uid: 8l7zukg4 ABSTRACT We report a patient who had travelled to Japan presented mild respiratory symptom during the COVID-19 infection outbreak period. There was transient existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in his oropharynx. The RNA was absent in the six respiratory specimens that were subsequently tested. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in the acute and convalescent sera were absent. The reported case indicates that transient colonization of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract is possible without inciting any antibody response against the virus. Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is essential for containing and mitigating SARS- A 30-year-old man, an engineer, presented to our hospital on February 27, 2020, with a mild cough since February 24, 2020 (day 1 of illness Informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report. No specific funding was received for this work. The authors declare no competing interests ☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China Asymptomatic carrier state, acute respiratory disease, and pneumonia due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): Facts and myths A case of COVID-19 and pneumonia returning from Macau in Taiwan: clinical course and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG dynamic Dynamics of anti-SARS-Cov-2 IgM and IgG antibodies among COVID-19 patients Laboratory diagnosis of emerging human coronavirus infections-the state of the art Lymphopenia predicts disease severity of COVID-19: a descriptive and predictive study Temporal profiles of viral load in posterior oropharyngeal saliva samples and serum antibody responses during infection by SARS-CoV-2: An observational cohort study Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients of novel coronavirus disease 2019