COVID-19:Patients With Influenzalike Illnesses
Brad Spellberg, MD1; Meredith Haddix, MPH2; Rebecca Lee, MPH2; et alSusan Butler-Wu, PhD1; Paul Holtom, MD1; Hal Yee, MD, PhD3; Prabhu Gounder, MD2
JAMA. Published online March 31, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4958
Of 131 patients who presented to a Los Angeles emergency department or urgent care with mild influenzalike illness between March 12 and 15, roughly 5% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In a JAMA research letter, the authors write: “These patients had sufficiently mild illness to be active in the community throughout their illness, increasing the possibility of transmission. Such transmission is consistent with the unusual, third countywide influenzalike illness spike that occurred late in the season and with declining rates of influenza positivity.”