• Guoxin Zhang, Shuke Nie, Zhaohui Zhang, and Zhentao Zhang.
• Department of Neurology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2020 Jun 29; 222 (2): 183-188.

BackgroundA novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has recently emerged and caused the rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide.MethodsWe did a retrospective study and included COVID-19 patients admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between 1 February and 29 February 2020. Antibody assay was conducted to detect COVID-19 envelope protein E and nucleocapsid protein N antigen.ResultsOne hundred twelve patients were recruited with symptoms of fever, cough, fatigue, myalgia, and diarrhea. All patients underwent antibody tests. Fifty-eight (51.79%) were positive for both immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), 7 (6.25%) were negative for both antibodies, 1 (0.89%) was positive for only IgM, and 46 (41.07%) were positive for only IgG. IgM antibody appeared within a week post-disease onset, lasted for 1 month, and gradually decreased, whereas IgG antibody was produced 10 days after infection and lasted for a longer time. However, no significant difference in levels of IgM and IgG antibodies between positive and negative patients of nucleic acid test after treatment was found.ConclusionsOur results indicate that serological tests could be a powerful approach for the early diagnosis of COVID-19.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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