ISSN: 2329-8731
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Department of Infectious Diseases, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Eoin Feeney graduated in medicine from Trinity College Dublin in 2002. He completed his basic specialist training through the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital training scheme, spending six months as a resident at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2012 he completed Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine through the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, and in the same year was awarded a Ph.D. examining the metabolic complications of HIV infection from University College Dublin.
Case Report
Case Report: Discordant RT-PCR Results in COVID-19 Patient Challenges Clinical Decisions
Author(s): Leila Smith, Liam Smyth, Eoin Feeney, Kirsten Schaffer and Jaythoon Hassan*
We report a case study of a COVID-19 patient whose PCR results fluctuated from detected to not detected over a period of 3 weeks depending on the PCR assay used and the challenge this presented to clinicians. This is the first report of the longitudinal assessment of a COVID-19 patient in Ireland who was followed up for 45 days since the first positive result. Our findings highlight the difficulty for clinicians in making a decision to move patients to a different ward or for discharge from hospital whilst adhering to initial recommendations published by the WHO to confirm clearance of the virus which was that the patient required to be clinically recovered and to have two negative RT-PCR results on sequential samples taken at least 24 hours apart. Furthermore, researchers have stressed the need for caution in interpreting any negative results of RT-PCR diagnostic tests as many factor.. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/2329-8731.21.9.221