SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic and symptomatic patients and risk for transfusion transmission

Authors: Corman VM, Rabenau HF, Adams O, Oberle D, Funk4 MB, Keller-Stanislawski B, Timm J, Drosten Ch, Ciesek S.

Publication: Transfusion; April 2020

Affiliations: Charité University Hospital, Virology, Berlin, Germany; Institute for Medical Virology, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; Institute for Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Faculty of Medicine, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Department Safety of Drugs and Medical Devices, Langen, Germany; DZIF, German Centre for Infection Research

Abstract: Oral swabs, sputum and blood samples from 18 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were examined using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. Whereas oral swabs or sputum from the lower respiratory tract were tested RT-PCR positive in all patients, RNAemia was neither detected in 3 patients without symptoms nor in 14 patients with flu-like symptoms, fever or pneumonia. The only patient with RNAemia suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and was artificially ventilated in an intensive care unit. Risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through blood components in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals therefore seems negligible but further studies are needed.