Five cases of COVID-19 in France

Five cases of COVID-19 in France. Heneghan C

https://www.cebm.net/study/five-cases-of-covid-19-in-france/

Published on July 30, 2020

Reference Lescure FX, Bouadma L, Nguyen D et al Clinical and virological data of the first cases of COVID‐19 in Europe: a case series. Lancet Infect Dis 2020; 20: 697–706. 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30200-0
Study type
Country France
Setting Hospital
Funding Details REACTing (Research & Action Emerging Infectious Diseases), INSERM, Paris, France
Transmission mode Orofecal
Exposures

Bottom Line

SARs-CoV-2 viral RNA was detected in the stools of two women out of the case series of five patients

Evidence Summary

Two women diagnosed within a day of exhibiting symptoms, with high nasopharyngeal titres of SARS-CoV-2 within the first 24 h of the illness onset (5·2 and 7·4 log10 copies per 1000 cells, respectively) had viral RNA detection in stools

What did they do?

Undertook a case series of five patients admitted to Bichat-Claude Bernard University Hospital (Paris, France) and Pellegrin University Hospital (Bordeaux, France) and diagnosed with COVID-19 by semi-quantitative RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal swabs. The first patient was diagnosed with the disease on Jan 24, 2020.

Nasopharyngeal, blood, urine, and stool samples were obtained once daily for 3 days from hospital admission, and once every 2 or 3 days until patient discharge.

Study reliability

Clearly defined setting Demographic characteristics described Follow-up length was sufficient Transmission outcomes assessed Main biases are taken into consideration
Yes Yes Yes Yes No

What else should I consider?

About the authors

Carl Heneghan

Carl is Professor of EBM & Director of CEBM at the University of Oxford. He is also a GP and tweets @carlheneghan. He has an active interest in discovering the truth behind health research findings