A cautionary tale of false-negative nasopharyngeal COVID-19 testing
Sean S.M. Bullis,
Jessica W. Crothers,
Shawn Wayne,
Andrew J. Hale
Affiliations
Sean S.M. Bullis
University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, United States
Jessica W. Crothers
University of Vermont Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Pathology at Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT United States
Shawn Wayne
University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, United States
Andrew J. Hale
University of Vermont Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States; Corresponding author at: University of Vermont Medical Center, Infectious Disease Unit. 111 Colchester Avenue, Mailstop 115 SM2, Burlington VT 05401, United States.
There remains diagnostic uncertainty regarding the sensitivity of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in detection of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal specimens. We present a case where two nasopharyngeal specimens were negative, followed by a positive sputum sample. Serial testing for COVID-19 is indicated in patients with high pretest probability of disease.
