Asymptomatic SARS‑CoV‑2 infection in an unvaccinated 97‑year‑old woman: A case report

Georgakopoulou,Vasiliki Epameinondas; Papalexis,Petros; Sanos,Christos; Bitsani,Aikaterini; Garmpi,Anna; Damaskos,Christos; Garmpis,Nikolaos; Gkoufa,Aikaterini; Chlapoutakis,Serafeim; Sklapani,Pagona; Mantzouranis,Konstantinos; Trakas,Nikolaos; Spandidos,Demetrios A.

doi:10.3892/br.2021.1483

Asymptomatic SARS‑CoV‑2 infection in an unvaccinated 97‑year‑old woman: A case report

Authors:
- Vasiliki Epameinondas Georgakopoulou
- Petros Papalexis
- Christos Sanos
- Aikaterini Bitsani
- Anna Garmpi
- Christos Damaskos
- Nikolaos Garmpis
- Aikaterini Gkoufa
- Serafeim Chlapoutakis
- Pagona Sklapani
- Konstantinos Mantzouranis
- Nikolaos Trakas
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
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Affiliations: Pulmonology Department, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, First Department of Propedeutic Internal Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Department of Pathophysiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Renal Transplantation Unit, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, N.S. Christeas Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, First Department of Internal Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Agios Savvas Hospital, 11522 Athens, Greece, Department of Cytology, Mitera Hospital, 15123 Athens, Greece, First Pulmonology Department, Sismanogleio Hospital, 15126 Athens, Greece, Department of Biochemistry, Sismanogleio Hospital, 15126 Athens, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
Published online on: October 28, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2021.1483
Article Number: 107
Copyright: © Georgakopoulou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID‑19) is an infection caused by the newly detected coronavirus, SARS‑CoV‑2. The majority of individuals will exhibit mild to moderate illness. Older individuals, and those suffering from co‑existing diseases have a greater probability of experiencing a serious illness. Moreover, elderly patients have higher mortality rates than younger patients, especially those who are unvaccinated. Asymptomatic infection is mostly observed in individuals who are younger, as younger patients are more likely to exhibit a stronger immune response to the infection; aging is characterized by the decline immune function. In this article, a rare case of an unvaccinated 97‑year‑old woman is described who was admitted to Laiko General Hospital due to altered levels of consciousness, hypotension and a hematoma of the thoracic region, and tested positive for SARS‑CoV‑2 nucleic acid in a nasopharyngeal specimen and positive for IgG antibodies against the SARS‑CoV‑2 spike protein without a history of consistent manifestations, indicating a past asymptomatic infection.

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