The activity of the 'gray Area' in the era of SARS-Cov2

Background and Aim of the study: The sensitivity of genomic testsfor the diagnosis of SARS CoV2, (RT-PCR) can be estimated ataround 60%, therefore it is inevitable to find negative subjects Alot of patients, in the absence of a clear virological diagnosis, during an epidemic, were hospitalized in a 'gray area' to defined thereal negativity A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of agroup of patients hospitalized in the gray area of F Miulli Hospital(Acquaviva delle Fonti, BA)Materials and Methods: A cohort of 42 (23 M, 19 F, average age78 6 years) patients was studied retrospectively with respect toclinical and instrumental findings Results: All patients had fever and in 14 of them also acute hypoxemic respiratory failure The most represented comorbiditieswere: hypertension 14, ischemic heart disease 2, diabetes 4, ar rhythmias 4, renal failure 4, The radiological pictures observedwere of: radiological alterations with areas of 'ground glass' in 14subjects;outbreak bronchopneumonia in 26;bronchiolitis ('treein bud') in 1 patient Only one patient tested positive for SARSCoV2 virus infection detected by the third swab Conclusions: Subjects hospitalized in 'gray area' were characterized by nonspecific elements, negative RT-PCR genomic test andradiological findings correlated with an intermediate probabilityfor SARS CoV2 virus infection (radiological pictures indeterminatebut suggestive) Most of the clinical and radiological pictures weretherefore related to other infections