- Detection and Isolation of SARS-CoV-2 in Serum, Urine, and Stool Specimens of COVID-19 Patients from the Republic of Korea
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Jeong-Min Kim, Heui Man Kim, Eun Jung Lee, Hye Jun Jo, Youngsil Yoon, Nam-Joo Lee, Junseock Son, Ye-Ji Lee, Mi Seon Kim, Yong-Pyo Lee, Su-Jin Chae, Kye Ryeong Park, Seung-Rye Cho, Sehee Park, Su Jin Kim, Eunbyeol Wang, SangHee Woo, Aram Lim, Su-Jin Park, JunHyeong Jang, Yoon-Seok Chung, Bum Sik Chin, Jin-Soo Lee, Duko Lim, Myung-Guk Han, Cheon Kwon Yoo
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Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2020;11(3):112-117. Published online May 8, 2020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.3.02
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9,214
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 Abstract
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- Objectives
Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is a respiratory infection characterized by the main symptoms of pneumonia and fever. It is caused by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is known to spread via respiratory droplets. We aimed to determine the rate and likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from COVID-19 patients through non-respiratory routes.
Methods
Serum, urine, and stool samples were collected from 74 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 based on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory samples. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome was extracted from each specimen and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction performed. CaCo-2 cells were inoculated with the specimens containing the SARS-COV-2 genome, and subcultured for virus isolation. After culturing, viral replication in the cell supernatant was assessed.
Results
Of the samples collected from 74 COVID-19 patients, SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 15 serum, urine, or stool samples. The virus detection rate in the serum, urine, and stool samples were 2.8% (9/323), 0.8% (2/247), and 10.1% (13/129), and the mean viral load was 1,210 ± 1,861, 79 ± 30, and 3,176 ± 7,208 copy/µL, respectively. However, the SARS-CoV-2 was not isolated by the culture method from the samples that tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 gene.
Conclusion
While the virus remained detectable in the respiratory samples of COVID-19 patients for several days after hospitalization, its detection in the serum, urine, and stool samples was intermittent. Since the virus could not be isolated from the SARS-COV-2-positive samples, the risk of viral transmission via stool and urine is expected to be low.
- Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A Infection in Northeastern China, Korea, and Japan
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Haesun Yun, Hyeok-Jin Lee, Youngsil Yoon, Kisang Kim, Sungsoo Kim, Myung-Hee Shin, Miyuki Taniguchi, Soo Ryang Kim, Mi Kyung Kim
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Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2012;3(1):31-35. Published online December 31, 2011
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrp.2012.01.005
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1,260
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4
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Abstract
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- Objectives
The epidemiological patterns of endemic hepatitis A virus (HAV) are unclear in northeastern Asia depending on the ethnicity of the country in question. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of HAV in northeastern China, South Korea, and Japan.
Methods
A total of 1,500 serum samples were collected from five groups of inhabitants (300 each) who were over 40 years of age (Korean Chinese, indigenous Chinese, South Korean, Korean living in Japan, and indigenous Japanese). The samples were screened for antibodies to HAV using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
Positivity for HAV antibodies was 93.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90.9–96.4) in Koreans living in northeastern China, 99.7% (95% CI: 99.0–100.3) in indigenous Chinese, 98.0% (95% CI: 96.4–99.6) in indigenous Koreans, 33.3% (95% CI: 28.0–38.7) in Koreans living in Japan, and 20.4% (95% CI: 15.8–25.0) in indigenous Japanese persons. The overall anti-HAV prevalence was not significantly different between northeastern China and South Korea, but it was different in Japan.
Conclusions
These results indicate that differences in seroprevalence can be attributed to geological, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions rather than ethnicity.
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