Dynamic profiles of SARS-Cov-2 infection from five Chinese family clusters in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Scientific reports 2020-12, Vol.10 (1), p.22048-22048, Article 22048
• Main Authors: Kong, Xiang-Gen, Geng, Jin, Zhang, Tao, Wang, Bin, Wu, An-Zhao, Xiao, Di, Zhang, Zhao-Hua, Liu, Cai-Feng, Wang, Li, Jiang, Xue-Mei, Fan, Yu-Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308/174; 692/699/255/2514; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Child, Preschool; China - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - transmission; COVID-19 - virology; Family; Female; Ferritin; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Infant; Infections; Laboratories; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Pandemics; Prognosis; Radiology; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79035-1

Although several cases of family clusters with SARS-Cov-2 infection have been reported, there are still limited data preventing conclusions from being drawn regarding the characteristics and laboratory findings in the COVID-19 population within family clusters. In the present study, we retrospectively collected five family clusters with COVID-19 and summarized the dynamic profiles of the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, immune markers, treatment and prognosis of this population. Furthermore, we also compared clinical and laboratory data between the SARS-Cov-2 infection with family cluster (n = 21) and those without family cluster (n = 16). We demonstrated that the duration of SARS-Cov-2 replication might be varied based on the different family clusters due to their different genetic backgrounds. The onset improved lung radiology might start at the end of the SARS-Cov-2 positive period. Furthermore, the obtained results demonstrated that similar basic characteristics and clinical findings seem to exist between the cases with SARS-Cov-2 and without family clusters. The serum level of ferritin might have a different biological function and be a new biomarker for the family cluster. Further studies with larger numbers of patients are required.