The rigorous USE of the masks and the respect of the physical distance lower the viral load of SarsCov2 by a thousand times. A conclusion reached by a study by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital in Negrar (Verona), published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection. It was conducted on 373 cases of Covid-19 who arrived in the hospital emergency room between March 1 and May 31, 2020. As exposure to the infection decreased, the viral load of these patients gradually decreased; in parallel, the severity of the disease also decreased. “In May they had on average less severe symptoms of Covid-19 and a lower probability of complications; at the same time, the percentage of patients who needed hospitalization in intensive care decreased”, explain the study coordinators. Dora Buonfrate e Chiara Piubelli.
There is therefore a relationship between the reduction in Covid-19 cases between April and May and a clear and progressive reduction in the viral load present in infected subjects. And it should be attributed to the individual protection and social distancing measures implemented in that period. The sick who arrived in hospital in May, therefore in a period of low exposure to the infection, had come into contact with lower viral ‘doses’ and had less Sars-CoV-2 circulating in the body, even up to a thousand times less than to patients hospitalized in March.
Coronavirus, silent but not changing
by ANTONIO CASSONE
May 18, 2020-
“This is a widely discussed event during the lockdown and in the subsequent disease control period, which has led some scholars to hypothesize mutations of the virus resulting in less aggression, something that has not subsequently found scientific evidence”, he explains. Antonio Cassone, a member of the American Academy of Microbiology. “This study would confirm the existence of a correlation between viral load, pathogenicity and severity of the disease. However, it is not only social distancing and the use of the mask that play a role but also other factors, as the study authors themselves argue. , in particular the isolation of the infected and the quarantine of contacts, of obvious importance in reducing transmission and contagion “
A piece that adds to the notion that isolation, quarantine, use of masks, hand hygiene and social distancing are important and necessary measures to reduce the circulation of the virus and its consequences in terms of hospitalization and severity of the disease.
The masks? They work like the vaccine
by GIUSEPPE DEL BELLO
September 28, 2020-
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