Hong Kong Med J 2025;31(Suppl 4):S39-41
Clinical, virological, microbiological, immunological, and laboratory monitoring of patients hospitalised with COVID-19: abridged secondary publication
PKS Chan1, CKC Lai1, GCY Lui2, L Ling3, A Li4, RWY Ng1
 
 
  1. Deep throat saliva has suboptimal diagnostic sensitivity and hence a possibility of missed cases, particularly when screening in-bound travellers.
  2. Mouth gargle and nasal strip are alternative self-collected specimens with good diagnostic performance and thus may be utilised in community surveillance.
  3. Interleukin-38 appears to have a regulatory and protective role in COVID-19. Cytokine and chemokine profiling may have prognostic value.
  4. Subgenomic RNA detection may serve as a sensitive marker of infectivity to guide decisions on patient discharge from isolation.