Journal Article

Recurrent SARS-CoV-2 infections and their potential risk to public health – a systematic review

Hanefeld, Johanna, El Bcheraoui, Charbel, Méndez-Brito, Alba, Abrokwa, Seth Kofi, Müller, Sophie Alice

2021

Overview

To inform quarantine and contact-tracing policies concerning re-positive cases-cases testing positive among those recovered. We systematically reviewed and appraised relevant literature from PubMed and Embase for the extent of re-positive cases and their epidemiological characteristics. In 90 case reports/series, a total of 276 re-positive cases were found. Among confirmed reinfections, 50% occurred within 90 days from recovery. Four reports related onward transmission. In thirty-five observational studies, rate of re-positives ranged from zero to 50% with no onward transmissions reported. In eight reviews, pooled recurrence rate ranged from 12% to 17.7%. Probability of re-positive increased with several factors. Recurrence of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test is commonly reported within the first weeks following recovery from a first infection.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Biology and life sciences / Case reports / Contact Tracing / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 - pathology / COVID-19 - virology / COVID-19 vaccines / Databases, Factual / Disease transmission / Diseases / Epidemiology / Forecasts and trends / Health risks / Herd immunity / Humans / Infections / Medicine and health sciences / Observational studies / Public Health / Quarantine / Recovery / Recurrence / Relapse / Research and Analysis Methods / SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification / Severe acute respiratory syndrome / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Systematic review