Warning: file_get_contents(https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=34033165&cmd=llinks): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
in C:\Inetpub\vhosts\kidney.de\httpdocs\pget.php on line 215
Cytopathology 2021[Nov]; 32 (6): 766-770 PMID34033165show ga
OBJECTIVE: Currently, it is thought that uterine cervix mucosal samples present a low risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure. So far, there is no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 detection in Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. Nevertheless, clinicians could be exposed unaware to the coronavirus while performing and handling a Pap smear. We aimed to retrospectively evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in cervical liquid-based cytology (LBC) samples in women who tested positive for a nasopharyngeal COVID-19 PCR test. METHODS: From our laboratory database, we identified patients with data on a cervical cancer screening LBC sample paired with a positive nasopharyngeal COVID-19 PCR test. Relevant LBC samples taken within an incubation period of 14 days and post-onset RNA shedding interval of 25 days were subsequently tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-PCR tests. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 102 women. Of those, 23 LBC samples were tested. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in one LBC sample from a 26-year-old asymptomatic woman taken six days before reporting headaches and knee arthralgia with a positive nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in cervical LBC samples at an early asymptomatic stage of COVID-19. In general, this finding is infrequent in asymptomatic women who tested SARS-CoV-2 positive within an incubation of 14 days and a post-onset RNA shedding period of 25 days. We fully support the current thinking that cervical LBC samples from asymptomatic women pose a low risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and can be handled in the frame of good microbiological practice and procedures.
free
free
free
Cytopathology 2021 ; 32 (6): 766-770
