(Reuters) – – After the five-day quarantine period, around one-third of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 might remain infected, according to new data.
PCR tests can detect viruses, but they cannot tell whether they are infective or inactive remnants. Researchers developed a brand new test to study samples from March 2020 through November 2020. In the sequential samples of 176 individuals who passed positive PCR tests, they looked for genetic material produced by the virus when it is actively creating copies of itself, and is still transmittable.
Lorna Harries who is a researcher at University of Exeter Medical School in England She stated that “at five days 30 percent of the people were still showing clinically relevant levels of activate virus.”
After a 10-day quarantineperiod, one out of 10 people could still be infected as reported by her team in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Researchers discovered that some individuals might be able to keep these levels for as long as 68 days.
“There was nothing clinically remarkable about these individuals that means we wouldn’t be able to tell who they are,” Harries said in an announcement.
The study was conducted before the Delta and Omicron coronavirus variants started to circulate in the last year. To confirm their findings, researchers are planning to conduct larger trials. In the meantime, they suggest that in areas “where forward transmission is particularly problematic, it might be prudent to obtain molecular evidence of remission to stop the transmission from continuing.”
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3rny7Vp International Journal of Infectious Diseases, online December 7, 2022.
