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©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence: A report of 3 cases
Shu-Fan Zhuang, Jia Hu, Nan Qiao, Zhi-Hui Lan, Jun-Yu Lai, Jian-Guang Wu, Xiao-Yong Wu
Shu-Fan Zhuang, Jia Hu, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Nan Qiao, Department of Student Affairs, Jiangxi Institute of Economic Administrators, Nanchang 330088, Jiangxi Province, China
Zhi-Hui Lan, Department of Respiration, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Jun-Yu Lai, Jian-Guang Wu, Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Xiao-Yong Wu, Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: Zhuang SF and Hu J reviewed the literature and drafted the manuscript; Qiao N drafted all tables and figures; Hu J, Lan ZH, and Lai JY treated these patients and participated in collecting data; Wu JG guided treatment; Wu XY performed the radiographic analyses; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Emergency Special Project on Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19 with Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 2020YBBGWL007.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jia Hu, PhD, Attending Doctor, Academic Research, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 445 Bayi Avenue, Donghu District, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China. 356529216003@email.ncu.edu.cn
Received: March 21, 2020
Peer-review started: March 21, 2020
First decision: April 24, 2020
Revised: May 5, 2020
Accepted: May 21, 2020
Article in press: May 21, 2020
Published online: June 26, 2020
BACKGROUND
Low-grade fever during convalescence is an atypical symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Reports of such cases are rare, and the mechanism and outcome of low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence are not completely clear. We report 3 cases with low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence and highlight the main clinical, radiographic, and laboratory characteristics, thereby increasing the level of expertise in the clinical management of COVID-19 during convalescence and facilitating individualized decision-making.
CASE SUMMARY
We describe 3 patients with COVID-19, two females aged 62 and 66 years and a male 55 years, who had low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence. All 3 patients had no other discomfort or comorbidities during low-grade process. Lesions on computed tomography in all 3 patients had resolved during this period. Two patients tested negative on two consecutive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 tests with an interval of at least 24 h between tests. Body temperature in all 3 patients returned to normal after several days without treatment, and fever recurrence was not observed.
CONCLUSION
Enhancing the knowledge of low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence may increase the expertise in the delivery of optimal healthcare services.
Core tip: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly worldwide, and our knowledge of this infection is still insufficient in many respects. We present 3 cases with low-grade fever during COVID-19 convalescence. These cases highlight the main clinical, radiographic, and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19 and help provide guidance for frontline medical staff in terms of clinical management and individualized decision-making during convalescence.
