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Do you have no symptoms of corona? You're still contagious
A study from South Korea found that asymptomatic patients who are considered less contagious carry the same amount of virus in their bodies as patients with symptoms. Does that mean they are equally contagious? Not sure
Tags- Corona
- Corona virus
Walla! health
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Most corona tests focus on people with symptoms, so there is little data on asymptomatic cases. A new study from South Korea found that people with asymptomatic Covid-19 can carry the same amount of virus as those with symptoms - which means they can infect others just like people with symptoms. To date, researchers have estimated that asymptomatic people are not as contagious as people with symptoms.
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South Korea was able to identify and isolate asymptomatic cases through mass tests as early as March. But researchers have not been able to say how much these people actually transmitted the virus. People with positive tests were followed up at a community therapy center, which allowed scientists to test how much of the virus could be detected in their nose and throat. They underwent regular tests, and were only released once they were negative.
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Results of 1,886 tests showed that in people who had no symptoms at the time of the test, including those who also did not develop symptoms at a later stage, there was the same amount of viral substance in the nose and throat as in people with symptoms. The study showed that the virus could be detected in asymptomatic people for significant periods of time - although they appeared to "cleanse" it from their systems slightly faster than people with symptoms.
The amount of viruses in the nose and throat is the same, whether there are symptoms or not. Woman undergoes corona test in US (Photo: Reuters)The median time (the number in which half of the cases were higher and half were lower) from diagnosis to receipt of the negative test was 17 days in asymptomatic patients and 19.5 days in symptomatic patients. Because of the nature of the isolation center, the study did not include people with severe cases of the disease who were hospitalized. The subjects were also younger and healthier than average.
The researchers are aware that their study could not “determine the role” that the presence of the virus in asymptomatic patients played in infection. Theoretically, if you have the same amount of virus in your nose and throat it means you have the same chance of passing it on. But asymptomatic people are less likely to cough or sneeze - which sends infected droplets into the air.
The risks of contracting Corona virus depend on a number of factors, this includes how deep and fast the patient breathes, what the proximity was to him and for how long, whether you were with him indoors or open, with or without a mask and of course - whether social distance is maintained.