More evidence has emerged about the dangers of asymptomatic patients with the COVID-19. Researchers found that the viral load of those without symptoms is just as high as infected people who cough and run fevers.
What’s more, because asymptomatic patients contained as much of the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, in their noses and and throats, they were just as likely to spread the disease.
The team, from Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital in South Korea, says the findings further suggest the importance of ramping up testing and contact tracing so that people without symptoms can quickly isolate and decrease the risk of transmission.
Results showed that the viral loads of symptomatic patients tended to decrease a bit more slowly over time that asymptomatic patients.
At day 14 of isolation, 33.7 percent of those without symptoms received a negative coronavirus test compared to 29.6 percent of symptomatic patients.
By day 21, 75.2 percent of asymptomatic patients received negative test results compared to 69.9 percent of those with symptoms.
Therefore, isolation of infected persons should be performed regardless of symptoms.
‘Because transmission by asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 may be a key factor in community spread, population-based surveillance and isolation of asymptomatic patients may be required.’