A Positive PCR Test May not Mean Positively Sick (IMAGE)

University of Utah Health

A Positive PCR Test May not Mean Positively Sick

Caption

PCR-based diagnostics are becoming increasingly common in clinics, but the BIG-LoVE (Utah Better Identification of Germs-Longitudinal Viral Epidemiology) study by investigators at the University of Utah School of Medicine shows that on average, half of patients who tested positive for respiratory virus did not show any symptoms. The study tested 16 kinds of respiratory virus in all. Among study participants that tested positive for rhinovirus, the virus was found to persist for up to 7 weeks, but participants only showed symptoms (ie. coughing, fever) 56 percent of the time. Darker shading indicates symptomatic viral detection and lighter shading indicates asymptomatic viral detection.

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Carrie Byington, University of Utah School of Medicine

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