Associations of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) shedding patterns with clinical illness and immune responses in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Less active T-cell responses at the initial phase of infection were associated with prolonged viral RNA shedding, suggesting that early immune responses are beneficial to control viral load and prevent viral RNA shedding. Intermittent shedding is common and may explain re-detection of viral RNA in recovered patients.