Severe pneumonia of torpid evolution in a young patient with a negative molecular test for a new coronavirus

Abstract

The coronavirus disease originating in 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly throughout the world, wreaking havoc on the health system and society. The case of a 26-year-old man with a history of asthma and obesity is reported. He returned from the United States and came to the emergency room with respiratory symptoms, hypoxemia, and interstitial infiltrate on the chest X-ray. The admission to the isolation room was decided, and the molecular test RT-PCR of the nasopharyngeal swab was negative, for which he was transferred to a standard emergency room. Initial management was conservative; however, the patient evolved unfavorably requiring ventilatory support, and died on the fifth day of hospitalization. A second positive result for SARS-CoV-2 was received the day after the patient died; he was one of the first young victims in Peru.