In the absence of tests for COVID-19, doctors can focus on the results of tests for other viruses. The detection of another respiratory infection in some cases was considered a sign of the absence of a new coronavirus. A new study shows that such an expectation can often be erroneous.
Perhaps a positive test for a new coronavirus does not mean that only this pathogen is responsible for the patient’s symptoms. Detection of other viruses, on the other hand, cannot be a guarantee that a person does not have COVID-19. This is evidenced by a small study published in Jama scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine.
Scientists examined a small group of patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. They tried to detect other pathogens that can cause diseases of the respiratory system – bacteria and viruses. Additional respiratory pathogens, in addition to the new coronavirus, were found in 20.7% of the study participants.
The authors of a new study studied 1217 nasopharyngeal swabs from patients with colds, COVID-19 they found in 9.5% of them. Additional respiratory infections were detected in 24 patients with the new coronavirus. The most frequent satellites of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus, and other coronaviruses (4%).
This suggests that a combination of SARS-CoV-2 with other respiratory pathogens is more common than previously reported, scientists point out. The presence of other viruses may give a false belief that the patient does not have COVID-19, they emphasize.
Scientists report that their Chinese counterparts previously claimed that co-infection is rarely detected with COVID-19. The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that, for a lack of tests for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, studies be carried out on other respiratory pathogens: it is assumed that their presence excludes infection with the new coronavirus.
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