SARS-CoV-2 was already spreading in France in late December 2019

A Deslandes, V Berti, Y Tandjaoui-Lambotte, Chakib Alloui, E Carbonnelle, J R Zahar, S Brichler, Yves Cohen, A Deslandes, V Berti, Y Tandjaoui-Lambotte, Chakib Alloui, E Carbonnelle, J R Zahar, S Brichler, Yves Cohen

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic is believed to have started in late January 2020 in France. Here we report a case of a patient hospitalised in December 2019 in an intensive care unit in a hospital in the north of Paris for haemoptysis with no aetiological diagnosis. RT-PCR was performed retrospectively on the stored respiratory sample and confirmed the diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Based on this result, it appears that the COVID-19 epidemic started much earlier in France.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus disease 2019; France; Intensive care unit; SARS-CoV-2.

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Selection process for testing. COVID-19, coronavirus 2019; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Result of Charité protocol RT-PCR assay : patient's curve in yellow; positive and negative test samples in purple.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Chest computed tomography (CT) images at baseline. Bilateral pulmonary ground-glass opacities appear in the inferior lobes.

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