In the present cohort, 4 of 20 COVID-19 patients could be traced back to Wuhan, where COVID-19 initially spread, while the remaining patients likely acquired the disease within the family, or through close contact (10, 11). The average incubation period for COVID-19 infection in the present study was 6.8 days. Main clinical manifestations included cough (94%), fever (73.%) and fatigue (52.9%). One exception was patient 17, who started with diarrhea, and did not have any respiratory symptoms throughout the course of disease.
All three cases (15%, 3/20) with asymptomatic infection were children, and these cases comparable to the reported 15.8% asymptomatic infections among children (12). These cases were positive for viral RNA in the sputum-throat swabs, which only lasted for a short duration, despite being positive until day 32 in stool samples obtained from two of them. The long duration of viral RNA positivity in stool has raised the question of "fecal spread", although this has yet to be confirmed (13). Furthermore, these cases had normal profiles in the hematologic and biochemical tests, and there was no pneumonia in the lung imaging.
There were two mild patients (11.8%, 2/17), and these patients had no changes in the lung imaging, blood routine and biochemical tests. The duration of viral RNA positivity in the respiratory specimen was short, but the shedding of viruses continued in the stool until day 41.
A total of 13 cases were categorized as moderate COVID-19, with an average disease duration of 11.5 days (5–27 days). The viral RNA became negative in 7 of 13 (54%) cases within one week, but this reappeared and remained positive until day 43 in one case, suggesting a false negativity or sample error in the early detection for this case.
The clinical course of two severe patients lasted for 32 days, and average respiratory detoxification time was 39 days. The clinical course of one of these patients was 55 days, while this was longer than the reported 37 days in both cases (14). This patient fully recovered, suggesting that long detoxification may not signal poor outcomes. The viral RNA level in these two patients was the highest at week 1 after onset, suggesting the peak viral load at week 1, and a decline over time (15–17). However, the conditions of these patients worsened during the following two weeks, suggesting that the severity of COVID-19 was not correlated to the decrease in viral load in these two cases (14).
All patients had low numbers of white blood cells upon onset. Eight patients (8/15) experienced lymphopenia, and two severe patients had the lowest lymphocyte count. However, they returned to normal at week 4. This was consistent with the previously reported correlation between lymphocyte count and disease prognosis (18, 19).
Abnormal liver function was detected in some patients, suggesting the possible liver damage by COVID-19, although the drug factor could not be completely ruled out (20, 21). The liver function returned to normal at week 7 or 8. Notably, two severe patients presented with both liver and myocardial injury (18). One patient was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) at day 17, but returned to normal within 4 weeks.
The lung imaging revealed that 71.4% of patients had lungs with < 3 affected lobes, and 28.6% of patients had lungs with > 4 affected lobes. These lung lesions most frequently appeared between week 2 and 3, but disappeared between week 7 and 8. The pneumonia was completely absorbed in 10 patients, and merely two severe patients plus patient 10 and 11, who were considered with moderate COVID-19, had residual inflammation at week 7. Local fibrosis was observed after the inflammation cleared.
The major structural protein of SARS-COV-2 consists of spike glycoprotein (S, Spike Protein), small envelope glycoprotein (E, Envelope Protein), membrane glycoprotein (M, Membrane Protein) and nucleocapsid protein. The RBD domain in the S protein has been shown to bind ACE2, which is a cellular receptor for SARS-COV-2 entry (22). The antibody to RBD was considered to neutralize the SARS-COV-2 infection. In the present study, it was found that all 15 infected patients had detectable anti-RBD neutralizing antibody at week 3 or 4. However, the serum antibody level in each patient varied, reflecting the different capacities to produce this neutralizing antibody. IgM was not detected in the three cases with asymptomatic infections after week 3, and anti-N IgG in 1 (patient 18) of 3 patients remained negative after week 3, but did had a detectable anti-RBD antibody, indicating that not all antibodies can be elicited in infected individuals (23). Two mild patients were negative for IgM, but were positive for IgG at a relatively lower titer.
As noted, the SARS-COV-2 IgM antibodies was positive in 4 (24%) of 17 patients at week 4, and remained positive in three cases (15%) at week 7, suggesting the short lifespan for the IgM antibody. This was in line with the reports of previous studies, suggesting an average of 12 days of IgM positivity. IgM could be detected after one month in a few cases.
Previous studies have shown that the specific IgG antibody can be detected in 14 days (9). In the present study, the specific IgG was detected in 91.7% (11/12) of patients at week 4, and this also peaked at week 4. One patient became IgG negative at week 5, and another patient became negative at week 10. However, the remaining patients had a detectable IgG during the study course of 12 weeks. In addition, the serum IgG antibody level declined over time. Antibody detection can supplement the qRT-PCR-based diagnosis of COVID-19.
SARS-COV-2 RNA in the pharyngeal and sputum can stay positive for 42 days, suggesting the infectiousness when transmitted. A sufficient quarantine period is required to ensure that no new transmission occurs among the recovered COVID-19 patients.
Most of the COVID-19 patients are hospitalized at week 2 or 3 after onset in China. The Chinese Health Department requires patients who are willing to donate convalescent plasma to be discharged after week 2, ensuring the protective neutralizing antibody at the peak. As reported, the SARS antibody titer may peak for four months after the onset, and decrease within six months (24). However, the high IgG titer declined rapidly in the present cohort, and this was no longer delectable in two patients at week 5 and 10, respectively, supporting the protocol for the early collection of blood from convalescent patients who are likely have a high level of specific neutralizing antibody (23). This also raises a critical question of whether the immunity after COVID-19 is long enough to manage long-term infections. The present data suggest that some of these patients may have a risk for reinfection with SARS-COV-2 due to the decline in the specific IgG protection antibody (25).