A group of virologists from Scotland published the results of a study in the medical journal The Lancet Microbe showing at what time of illness patients with coronavirus most intensively infect others.
This is the first experience of a systematic comparative analysis of data on the spread of three types of coronavirus dangerous to humans – SARS-CoV-2 (also known as COVID-19), SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. — reported Team Leader, Dr. Müge Cevik from the University of St Andrews.
After analyzing data from 98 studies on the spread of coronavirus infection of all three types, the Scottish scientists noted that the risk of infection from a patient with COVID-19 is highest in the first five days after the onset of symptoms. At the same time, there are no live viruses in the analyzes taken from patients nine days after the onset of the first symptoms of the disease.
Our findings are in line with other studies that indicate that most transmission occurs early in the disease, and emphasize the importance of self-isolation as soon as symptoms appear. – added Chevik.
However, the authors noted that their conclusions could be inaccurate: the low infectiousness of patients with coronavirus at a late stage could be due to taking medications.
In addition, increasing the dose of dexamethasone, remdesivir and other antiviral drugs and immunomodulators affects the ability of hospitalized patients to transmit the virus to others. This aspect of the problem requires further study. – noted the co-author of the study, Dr. Antonia Ho of the Center for Virology, University of Glasgow.
In many patients with coronavirus, doctors diagnose “silent hypoxia”, when the oxygen level in the blood slowly decreases, which, in turn, adversely affects vital organs. Scientists have developed a computer model with three different scenariosthat help explain how and why the lungs stop supplying oxygen to the blood.
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