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Research Letter
February 21, 2020

Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19

Yan Bai, MD1; Lingsheng Yao, MD2; Tao Wei, MD3; et al Fei Tian, MD4; Dong-Yan Jin, PhD5; Lijuan Chen, PhD1; Meiyun Wang, MD, PhD1
Author Affiliations Article Information
  • 1Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
  • 2Department of Radiology, Anyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anyang, Henan, China
  • 3Department of Radiology and Interventional, the Fifth People's Hospital of Anyang, Anyang, Henan, China
  • 4Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China
  • 5Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
JAMA. 2020;323(14):1406-1407. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.2565
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A novel coronavirus has resulted in an ongoing outbreak of viral pneumonia in China.1-3 Person-to-person transmission has been demonstrated,1 but, to our knowledge, transmission of the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from an asymptomatic carrier with normal chest computed tomography (CT) findings has not been reported.

In January 2020, we enrolled a familial cluster of 5 patients with fever and respiratory symptoms who were admitted to the Fifth People’s Hospital of Anyang, Anyang, China, and 1 asymptomatic family member. This study was approved by the local institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients. A detailed analysis of patient records was performed.

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