Coronavirus can present with almost all the symptoms in the book, from vomiting to pink eye. But while you’ve probably over-analyzed your cough and that tired feeling that comes over you at the end of a long day, the truth of the matter is that your symptoms may not be the strongest indicator that you’re sick – and it does part of why COVID is so alarming. A new study of University of Chicago The Department of Ecology and Evolution has determined that the one thing that the vast majority of patients with COVID share is that their disease has no symptoms or symptoms so subtle that you don’t even notice. Read on to find out more about how common asymptomatic cases really are and to find out more about what’s to come with the pandemic, see why the UK’s Top Scientist has a scary COVID alert for Americans.
For the new study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on February 10, the researchers reviewed the cases recorded in New York City from March to June. They concluded that only about 13 to 18 percent of COVID cases end up producing significant symptoms, which means that about 80 percent of those who are infected with COVID are asymptomatic or, at least, have mild symptoms that they don’t realize they are. . infected.
“There are many asymptomatic people – much larger than many studies have assumed,” study author Rahul Subramanian, a graduate researcher in epidemiology at the University of Chicago, said Insider. And for a subtle sign that can prevent it, make sure you’re over 65, you may be missing out on this COVID symptom, study says.
The lack of symptoms also does not mean that you are not able to spread the virus. According to the study, asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases (those who are infected, but have not yet started showing symptoms) “substantially boost transmission in the community”.
“We can say that more than 50 percent of the transmission that occurs in the community is from people without symptoms – those who are asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic,” senior author Mercedes Pascual, PhD, Professor Louis Block of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, said in a statement. And to receive the most up-to-date COVID news directly in your inbox, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
An asymptomatic case can also affect you in the long run. In fact, several studies have shown that long-term health problems arise in people who have had COVID but have no symptoms. Eric J. Topol, MD, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said THE Wall Street Journal that at least four studies so far have looked at lung scans in asymptomatic individuals, finding that “half have significant abnormalities consistent with COVID pneumonia, but without symptoms”. And a July study published in JAMA Cardiology found abnormal cardiac magnetic resonances in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with COVID, concluding that damage to the heart due to the virus is possible, no matter how mild or severe your case is.
“There is a risk of internal attacks on these people that they are unaware of,” said Topol. “When things happen slowly in a person, below the surface, you can end up with a chronic situation.” And to learn more about how the virus can progress, if you’ve done that, you’re twice as likely to develop severe COVID.
University of Chicago researchers say the study proves how much importance should be given to testing for non-symptomatic people, especially given the “ambiguity in the recent guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in relation to testing for asymptomatic individuals” . According to the most recent CDC guidelines, most people without symptoms do not need to have a COVID test, unless they have been consciously in close contact with someone infected, who is less than six feet for at least 15 minutes.
But study co-author Qixin He, PhD, now an assistant professor at Purdue University, warns that the research proves “it is crucial that everyone – including individuals who have no symptoms – follow public health guidelines, such as wearing a mask and social distance, and that mass testing is easily accessible to everyone. “And for more information from the country’s leading health agency, if you are layering these masks, the CDC says to stop immediately.