What was the SARS-CoV 2 testing strategy at designated COVID-19 hospital in Wuhan, China?
Dear Editor,
The article by Chen et al. on their experience of managing patients, including those who have have succumbed, with COVID-19 in Wuhan City, China is of interest to those of us tackling the global pandemic[1].
One aspect of the article perplexes me.
The authors are based in the Tongji Hospital, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China where the causative virus, SARS-CoV 2 originated. As the authors describe, this was one of the rapidly built COVID-19 hospitals established to cope with this serious epidemic.
The authors describe in detail the SARS-CoV 2 PCR test used to diagnose COVID-19. If they are only referred “confirmed COVID-19” positive patients, why were patients tested for SARS-CoV 2? Was this a confirmatory test following a PCR result at the referring hospital? Was it the initial diagnostic test? This is not clear. I could not see information on numbers of tests performed at Tongji Hospital or positivity rate in this cohort of 799 patients.
What happened if “confirmed COVID-19” patients referred by another hospital had a negative SARS-CoV 2 result at Tongji Hospital?
It would be interesting and helpful to have clarification of the testing strategy, rationale and test results in this early COVID-19 cohort in a designated COVID-19 hospital in Wuhan. This additional information would make this article even more valuable.
References:
1. Chen T et al. Clinical characteristics of 113 deceased patients with coronavirus 2019 : retrospective study. BMJ 2020;368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m109 (accessed 2/4/20)
Competing interests:
Any views expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Rapid Response:
What was the SARS-CoV 2 testing strategy at designated COVID-19 hospital in Wuhan, China?
Dear Editor,
The article by Chen et al. on their experience of managing patients, including those who have have succumbed, with COVID-19 in Wuhan City, China is of interest to those of us tackling the global pandemic[1].
One aspect of the article perplexes me.
The authors are based in the Tongji Hospital, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China where the causative virus, SARS-CoV 2 originated. As the authors describe, this was one of the rapidly built COVID-19 hospitals established to cope with this serious epidemic.
The authors describe in detail the SARS-CoV 2 PCR test used to diagnose COVID-19. If they are only referred “confirmed COVID-19” positive patients, why were patients tested for SARS-CoV 2? Was this a confirmatory test following a PCR result at the referring hospital? Was it the initial diagnostic test? This is not clear. I could not see information on numbers of tests performed at Tongji Hospital or positivity rate in this cohort of 799 patients.
What happened if “confirmed COVID-19” patients referred by another hospital had a negative SARS-CoV 2 result at Tongji Hospital?
It would be interesting and helpful to have clarification of the testing strategy, rationale and test results in this early COVID-19 cohort in a designated COVID-19 hospital in Wuhan. This additional information would make this article even more valuable.
References:
1. Chen T et al. Clinical characteristics of 113 deceased patients with coronavirus 2019 : retrospective study. BMJ 2020;368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m109 (accessed 2/4/20)
Competing interests: Any views expressed are my own and not those of my employer.