Back to Search
Start Over
Retrospective Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Symptomatic Patients Prior to Widespread Diagnostic Testing in Southern California.
- Source :
- Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; vol 74, iss 2, 271-277; 1058-4838
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused one of the worst pandemics in recent history. Few reports have revealed that SARS-CoV-2 was spreading in the United States as early as the end of January. In this study, we aimed to determine if SARS-CoV-2 had been circulating in the Los Angeles (LA) area at a time when access to diagnostic testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was severely limited.MethodsWe used a pooling strategy to look for SARS-CoV-2 in remnant respiratory samples submitted for regular respiratory pathogen testing from symptomatic patients from November 2019 to early March 2020. We then performed sequencing on the positive samples.ResultsWe detected SARS-CoV-2 in 7 specimens from 6 patients, dating back to mid-January. The earliest positive patient, with a sample collected on January 13, 2020 had no relevant travel history but did have a sibling with similar symptoms. Sequencing of these SARS-CoV-2 genomes revealed that the virus was introduced into the LA area from both domestic and international sources as early as January.ConclusionsWe present strong evidence of community spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the LA area well before widespread diagnostic testing was being performed in early 2020. These genomic data demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 was being introduced into Los Angeles County from both international and domestic sources in January 2020.
Details
- Database :
- OAIster
- Journal :
- Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; vol 74, iss 2, 271-277; 1058-4838
- Notes :
- application/pdf, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America vol 74, iss 2, 271-277 1058-4838
- Publication Type :
- Electronic Resource
- Accession number :
- edsoai.on1367394858
- Document Type :
- Electronic Resource