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If I'm reading this right, the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 can be found in the upper respiratory tract for a very long time (even 83 days in the extreme case), but the li
by wojcikstefan 6y ago
If I'm reading this right, the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 can be found in the upper respiratory tract for a very long time (even 83 days in the extreme case), but the live virus (capable of infecting others) was not discovered by any study beyond day 9.
Self-isolating/quarantining for 10 days after a positive test result, which many regions enforce, seems consistent with these findings (again, if I'm interpreting the results correctly).
- 2sk21 6y agoI agree but the key is to get test results quickly. A five day delay in getting test results (which is common) seems to imply that an infectious patient may have already done their worst spreading by the time they start quarantining.
- wojcikstefan 6y agoI agree accessibility and speed of testing is critical.
- JulianMorrison 6y agoUnless they quarantine preemptively from the time they're tested.
- geden 6y agoIn the UK, if you have a test, you are required to quarantine until you get the results. Is it not the case elsewhere??
- Jedd 6y agoIn Australia that's the standard response too - if you're symptomatic (of anything vaguely resembling the wide range of COVID19 symptoms) then you a) isolate, and b) get a test, and c) isolate at least until the test results come back.
- evandijk70 6y agoIt's probably the rules everywhere, but I imagine that compliance is a lot lower for people waiting for a test result than it is for people that received a positive test (especially those with mild symptoms)
- mensetmanusman 6y agoIn the US it sometimes takes up to two weeks to get a result, in which case the test is pointless.
- dboreham 6y agoLest readers assume this is typical, where I live at present (middle of the US) testing is efficient. Our kids' school runs their own rapid tests also. You can in addition buy saliva PCR tests from many vendors including Costco. These take 3 days max from purchase to result.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- NovemberWhiskey 6y agoRight. I had to get a Covid-19 test in October as part of groundwork for another procedure. I could've gotten a rapid test that gave results same day, or the PCR test. I got the PCR test (because more accurate) and had results back within 2 days.
- wegs 6y agoIn my town, if a child receives a positive test result, the whole classroom is under quarantine. So it's not pointless in that sense. You know who might have been exposed. It's also not pointless for monitoring spread.
- lmilcin 6y agoNot here in Poland. Though, it would very logical as a precaution.
- wegs 6y agoYES in Poland. I know people in Poland who avoided getting a COVID19 test because they knew they would have to quarantine if they took the test, and would not have to quarantine if they didn't. That's perverse incentives for ya'. It's very hard to enforce, of course, but if you get caught, there are (in abstract) severe fines.
- sp332 6y agoI'd hesitate to make it a rule because some people take them proactively, or even routinely. But yeah if someone has symptoms, or think they were exposed, that would make sense.
- brundolf 6y agoIn the US we don't really have "rules" so much as "suggestions"
- rvp-x 6y agoNot in .il, because of mass-testing efforts and people needing to show a negative result before travel and having no reason to believe they are positive. Quarantine is mandatory if you had exposure or returned from abroad.
- nikolay 6y agoI don't get this - if you're symptomatic beyond day 9, how can you not be contagious? A dry cough, for example, should be caused by the virus still being alive in the upper respiratory tract, i.e. you still should be able to infect others. Did they test aerosols, too?
- peteretep 6y ago> A dry cough, for example, should be caused by the virus still being alive in the upper respiratory tract Why? I thought the body’s (potentially delayed) reaction caused the cough, not the virus
- nikolay 6y agoWe have the instinct to cough to clear our air passages even without pathogens in certain cases. The virus is triggering these thru some irritation in order to spread to other people.
- strstr 6y agoNaive guess: the damage was already done. Cough is a response to the damage caused by the virus, not to the virus itself. If you get shot, you still have a bullet wound when the bullet comes out.
- zug_zug 6y agoSo help me understand. What about cases where somebody gets covid, goes to the hospital on day 15, respirator day 20, dies day 25. Was somebody in that profile only contagious up until day 9?
- dboreham 6y agoThey say yes.
- hanklazard 6y agoCorrect. Most of the “long Covid” effects appear to be more related to immune dysregulation as a response to the virus, causing the so-called cytokine storm and leading to damage in the lungs, heart, vasculature, etc. (Lots of support to this, I’ll look for a good review and update this post with an edit.) Edit: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.27.20115238v7 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.27.20115238v... Check out Figure 1 and the Discussion section for a good overview.
- s1artibartfast 6y agoI think that everything you said regarding the "Long Covid" is correct, but I don't think that it necessarily follows that patients dying of covid ARDS have ended viral replication and are no longer contagious.
- dopylitty 6y agoFrom what I understand the actual 'viral' phase of the disease isn't usually that long so potentially they were only contagious up to day 9. After that their immune system has usually wiped out the active virus. Everyone is different but by the time people are in the hospital on respirators they're usually suffering from the follow on effects of either direct viral damage or their own immune system going nuts.
- scotty79 6y agoSo why don't they put covid patients on a bucket of immunosuppressants after day 9?