Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in lung tissue after mild COVID-19
Laurens J. Ceulemans, Mona Khan, Seung‐Jun Yoo, Bolek Zapiec, Laura Van Gerven, Jan Van Slambrouck, Arno Vanstapel, Dirk Van Raemdonck, Robin Vos, Els Wauters, Joost Wauters, Peter Carmeliet, Peter Mombaerts
Abstract
On Dec 1, 2020, we reported a successful case of double-lung transplantation from a SARS-CoV-2 seropositive donor 105 days after the onset of mild COVID-19.1 Although repeated quantitative (q)RT-PCR analyses of donor nasopharyngeal swabs were negative, this technique detected RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 N gene (delta Ct 35) from a biopsy of the right lung taken during organ procurement. Viral culture of this biopsy was negative and donor-to-recipient transmission did not occur. Complementary orthogonal methods were needed to corroborate and interpret the qRT-PCR results.