Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 1735-1502 19 5 2020 10 18 471 477 Farhad Abolnezhadian Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Manoochehr Makvandi Department of Virology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Seyed Mohammad Alavi Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Azarakhsh Azaran Department of Virology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Shahram Jalilian Department of Virology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Mohammad Rashno Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Gholam Abbas Kaydani Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Maniya Arshadi Deputy of treatment, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Seyed Mehdi Hosseinizadeh Deputy of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Hatam Boostani Vice-chancellor of Education, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Seyed Saeed Seyedian Alimentary Tract Research Center Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Sasan Moogahi Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Shokrolah Salmanzadeh Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Mehran Varnaseri Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Niloofar Neisi Department of Virology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Hooman Keifarrokhi Deputy of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Gholamreza Shariati Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Homayoun Amiri Deputy of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Mehdi Parsanahad Department of Virology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Roohangiz Nashibi Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Farid Yousefi Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Fatemeh Ahmadi Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Kambiz AhmadiAngali Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2020 04 12 2020 07 21 The emergence of a highly pathogenic virus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) accounts for severe pneumonia throughout the world. More than 7 million world population have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the number of deaths is increasing every day. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients with an acute respiratory infection (ARI). During an outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2, the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 909 hospitalized patients with severe pneumonia, including 517 (56.9%) males and 392 (43.1%) females. All the collected samples were from different cities of Khuzestan province from 19 February to- 27 March 2020. The RNA was extracted from samples and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2. Simultaneously, the computerized tomography (CT) scan was tested for the presence of ground-glass opacity in the lung among the patients. Of the total number of 909 specimens, 328 (36.08%) cases, including 185 (20.35%) females and 143 (15.73%) males, were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 while, 581 (63.9%) cases, including 374 (41.14%) males and 207 (22.77%) were negative for the SARS-CoV-2 by real-time PCR (p=0.001).Four hundred sixteen (45.76%) cases were positive for ground-glass opacity in the lung by CT scan, while 328/909 (36.08%) trials proved positive for SARS-CoV-2 by the real-time PCR (p=0.003).  In this study, 36.08% of patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Although the results of positive cases by CT scan showed higher than real-time PCR, screening the SARS-COV-2 with a real-time PCR method is the first line of choice. https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/view/2788