Covid-19 is more difficult to contain than MERS and SARS.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – A new type of corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) which causes disease Covid-19 likely to be most contagious during the first five days after the onset of symptoms of infection. This is known in a recent study published in Lancet Microbial Journal.
Many people who are carriers of Covid-19, but don’t have any symptoms. In fact, they do not even know if they have passed the virus to others.
Meanwhile, people who have symptoms will generally be isolated for one to two weeks until the symptoms disappear completely. According to the new study, although genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 can still be detected in respiratory or stool samples of patients, no virus particles were found within nine days of the onset of the symptoms.
Researchers also note that in the first five days after a person is infected, transmission can easily occur.
“This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to comprehensively examine and compare viral load and relief for three corona virus in humans, “said the study’s lead author, Muge Cevik of the University of St Andrews in the UK Times Now News, Tuesday (24/11).
Cevik said this explains why SARS-CoV-2 spreads more efficiently than SARS-CoV as the coronavirus that causes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS-CoV, the coronavirus that causes MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). This also makes transmission much more difficult to contain.
The researchers said that most SARS-CoV-2 transmission events occurred very early, specifically within the first five days after the onset of symptoms. Therefore, self-isolation after signs of infection appear necessary.
“We also need to raise public awareness about the various symptoms associated with the disease, including mild symptoms that may occur earlier during infection than more prominent symptoms, such as cough or fever,” explains Cevik.
Key factors involved in the period of Covid-19 transmission, such as viral load, being the one being investigated. Researchers also looked at the length of time a person removed viral genetic material (RNA) from pathogens and the isolation of live viruses.
In the analysis, the researchers included 98 studies that had five or more participants, cohort studies, and randomized controlled trials. From there, 79 focused on SARS-CoV-2 and 73 of them only included hospitalized patients, eight on the SARS pandemic virus, and 11 on MERS.
The researchers later noted that viral load SARS-CoV-2 was highest detected early in the course of the disease, when symptoms started, or before the fifth day of symptoms. They indicated that for asymptomatic patients, the infection could heal faster.
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