COVID-19 circulates in Italy earlier than official records, study shows
Xinhua |
Updated: 2020-12-17 16:05
A man walks through an almost deserted Galleria Umberto, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Turin, Italy, November 6, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
ROME - New research is adding weight to the possibility that the coronavirus has already started circulating in Italy before its first officially-recorded infection.
In the latest findings, a team of researchers at the University of Milan found evidence of coronavirus antibodies from a four-year-old Italian boy who was ill in late November 2019.
The boy, who had no reported travel history, had cough and rhinitis on Nov. 21, 2019, and was taken to the emergency department with respiratory symptoms and vomiting. On Dec 1, he had the onset of a measles-like rash, but an oropharyngeal swab specimen collected from the boy eventually tested negative for measles.