• Nicoleta Stefania Motoc, Victoria-Maria Ruta, Milena Adina Man, Rodica Ana Ungur, Viorela Mihaela Ciortea, Laszlo Irsay, Andrea Nicola, Dan Valean, Lia Oxana Usatiuc, Ileana Rodica Matei, and Ileana Monica Borda.
• Department of Medical Sciences-Pulmonology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 May 26; 58 (6).

AbstractBackground and objectives: This article aims to evaluate the number of days necessary for patients with mild and moderate forms of COVID-19 to reach undetectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the upper respiratory tract specimens. As a secondary objective, we sought to establish a correlation between different conditions associated with longer viral load as this could result in a longer period of contagion and infectivity. Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective study. A total of 70 patients with confirmed mild and moderate forms of COVID-19 were enrolled in our study. Results: Number of days with traceable viral load was 25.93 (±6.02) days in patients with mild COVID-19 and 26.97 (±8.30) in moderate form (p = 0.72). Age, male gender, and obesity, along with several chronic conditions (cardiac, liver, renal, and neurological disease), were associated with prolonged positive RT-PCR test from the nasal swab (therefore prolonged viral load). These are in general, risk factors for severe forms of COVID-19. Conclusions: There are several conditions associated with prolonged positive RT-PCR in mild and moderate forms of COVID-19. As to why and what is the significance of it remains to be studied.

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