According to the Italian newspaper Republic on December 9, researchers at the University of Milan found the novel coronavirus in the pharynx secretion of a four-year-old child extracted in early December 2019, and inferred that the novel coronavirus had spread in Italy in mid-November 2019.
According to the report, on November 21, 2019, a four-year-old child in Milan developed cold and fever symptoms. On November 30, he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment due to vomiting and dyspnea.
On December 5, the hospital was diagnosed with measles after extracting his pharynx secretion. This throat swab sample was then kept at low temperature according to the measles epidemic prevention regulations.
Recently, researchers at the University of Milan tested 39 throat-like swab samples from September 2019 to February 2020 for COVID-19 nucleic acid and found that the child was infected with the novel coronavirus at that time.
The results of the relevant research have been published in the International Journal of Medicine and the website of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
