The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control
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Interesting comments:
At least one of three people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, do not develop symptoms. That’s the conclusion of a review we just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It summarizes the results of 61 studies with more than 1.8 million people.
On Jan. 28, 2020, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “In all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. … Even if there’s a rare asymptomatic person that might transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers.”
This was a widely held view. On June 8, 2020, a senior official of the World Health Organization called asymptomatic transmission “very rare.”
To his credit, Fauci was among those who immediately criticized this remark. Based on epidemiological data that had become available since his earlier comments, he said it was “not correct” to characterize asymptomatic transmission as rare.
Today, the best evidence suggests that about half of Covid-19 cases are caused by infected people who do not have symptoms when they pass on the virus. These symptom-free spreaders are roughly divided between those who later develop symptoms, known as pre-symptomatic individuals, and those who never develop symptoms.
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others. Preliminary results from one vaccine trial seem encouraging, with an apparent two-thirds reduction in asymptomatic infection after the first dose. But many other studies are underway.
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@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others.
Interesting
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@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others.
Interesting
@kluurs said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others.
Interesting
Yes.
And suppose that the virus finds safe harbor in your maxillary sinus, and you don't get sick. You'll test positive, and presumably, be infectious.
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@kluurs said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others.
Interesting
Yes.
And suppose that the virus finds safe harbor in your maxillary sinus, and you don't get sick. You'll test positive, and presumably, be infectious.
@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
@kluurs said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
@george-k said in The day we let Covid-19 spin out of control:
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines brings with it the risk of a new wave of asymptomatic infections. The two vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration have been proven to prevent illness, but not asymptomatic infection. Even after vaccination, the coronavirus may still temporarily take up residence in the lining of the respiratory tract, making it possible to infect others.
Interesting
Yes.
And suppose that the virus finds safe harbor in your maxillary sinus, and you don't get sick. You'll test positive, and presumably, be infectious.
If you have no symptoms, you might not get tested. You might just continue to go about the community spreading the virus.
