Asymptomatic people have as much coronavirus in them as symptomatic people (study) – Izland BipBip

A study detailed analysis of 303 people in South Korea shows that 29% of people infected with the coronavirus never developed symptoms, but that they carried as many virus than symptomatic people.

L’study, directed by Seungjae Lee of Soonchunhyang University and published Thursday in the American journal Jama Internal Medicine, focused on an outbreak of contamination in a group South Korean religious in Daegu in February. The authorities had decided to place the positive cases with little or no symptoms in isolation, in a government dormitory building where doctors and nurses have meticulously monitored theevolution their symptoms, and tested their viral load regularly.

The group was young, 25 years on average.

Out of 303 people, 89 have never developed symptoms, a proportion of 29%.

Since people were locked away until they tested negative, medical staff were able to distinguish pre-symptomatic from true asymptomatic cases. In fact, 21 people initially presented as positive for the coronavirus and without symptoms, but ended up having symptoms. Numerous studies, by not testing the patients that once, can confuse pre- and asymptomatic cases.

L’education principal is that the concentrations of virus in asymptomatic were “similar to those of patients symptomatic ”, report the authors.

But finding residual viral particles in their nose, throat, or lungs doesn’t necessarily mean these people were contagious. This is one of the big questions of the pandemic: to what extent are the many asymptomatic cases vectors of virus? On the one hand they do not cough, but on the other hand they do not place themselves in isolation and are therefore in contact with other people.

“It is important to stress that the detection of viral RNA is not synonymous with the presence of an infectious and transmissible virus”, warn the authors of thestudy. Large epidemiological and experimental studies are needed to understand this.

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Iceland BipBip & sciencesetavenir.fr

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