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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCDC: As many as 25 percent of people infected with the coronavirus do not develop symptoms.
Infected but Feeling Fine: The Unwitting Coronavirus Spreaders
The C.D.C. director says new data about people who are infected but symptom-free could lead the agency to recommend broadened use of masks.
As many as 25 percent of people infected with the new coronavirus may not show symptoms, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns a startlingly high number that complicates efforts to predict the pandemics course and strategies to mitigate its spread.
... This helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country, the director, Dr. Robert Redfield, told National Public Radio in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
... (An) analysis of the hundreds of people cloistered aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship bears out this scale. Once the ship docked in Japan on Feb. 5, researchers tested all of the passengers and reviewed those who tested positive for the virus on multiple occasions over a two-week period. They found that 18 percent of the infected passengers remained symptom-free throughout.
The substantial asymptomatic proportion for Covid-19 is quite alarming, said Dr. Gerardo Chowell, an epidemiologist at Georgia State University who worked on the analysis.
Dr. Chowell noted that the passengers on the ship tended to be older and therefore more likely to develop symptoms. He estimated that about 40 percent in the general population might be able to be infected without showing signs of it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/coronavirus-asymptomatic-transmission.html
20% of people with seasonal influenza do not develop symptoms.
woodsprite
(11,924 posts)In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)denem
(11,045 posts)There is a reason that masks are compulsory in most of Asia.
we can do it
(12,191 posts)denem
(11,045 posts)Yes medical professionals must take complete precedence over the general population, but and behold, the CDC is changing its advice, with 'new data' that was available in China and Japan two months ago.
JudyM
(29,273 posts)that a nasal swab is often false negative, because its still live in fecal swabs. Taking someones temperature before allowing him/her into a senior residential community is only going to catch some of folks with the virus.
Sunsky
(1,737 posts)I hear people sanctioning this but what's the evidence on it's efficiency? The CDC recommended homemade mask as a last resort and said it should be used with other protective gear such as a face shield.
I'm a healthcare worker and yes we do need supplies but I am also fearful that people will be lured into a false sense of protection with these simple cloth covering that offer very minimal to no protection.
JudyM
(29,273 posts)Even a bandana is better than nothing, though. There are some studies of this online you can find, using different kinds of masks, as well... interestingly, surgical masks arent that much less effective than the n95s.
Oh and BTW, 160 degrees and also just UV light (including sunshine) will kill virus on masks, etc. based on what Ive read.
woodsprite
(11,924 posts)BUT that means that we have some squirreled away fat quarters that are 100% cotton, some bias tape, and are making double layered masks w/ pockets for family and donations. The pocket means they can add another type of filter if they have it. We also are making the 2 sides different colors so someone can tell what is the outside and what is the inside.
I figured any mask is better than no mask at all. Even if it's to keep us from *giving* it to someone if we're one of the asymptomatic 20-40%.
The hospital said that they will turn to the homemade items when they run out of their normal masks to give patients that are being treated. Our local fire department said the same thing - especially since numbers are on the rise here of infections in health care workers.
captain queeg
(10,242 posts)And determine who has had it and is now immune.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)not get sick. I'd want a blood sample from them to see if they have more or different antibodies than those who do get symptoms.
Here is an interesting article from the New Yorker about similar "seed or soil" questions with cancer: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/11/cancers-invasion-equation
denem
(11,045 posts)coronaviruses that cause the common cold.
Quixote1818
(28,968 posts)They certainly haven't been exposed to very many colds yet.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)mother's blood via the umbilical cord?
denem
(11,045 posts)increase with age. Children have relatively few, so that they are generally receiving low doses of the virus. For the same reason, medical professionals can be subject to high doses of the virus, and the resultant COVID-19 is serious.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)that would support the emerging theory that older adults are actually less susceptible because they've been exposed to more virus/bacteria over their lifetimes than younger people.
Quixote1818
(28,968 posts)Icelands testing suggests 50% of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic
https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/iceland-testing-covid-19-0523/?fbclid=IwAR3SLRNNdMh1QcNtOJ7BkoM_dJ2jaQ7uulyCmCFlv-p2jJsQJo5XNPledpI
Nearly half of Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers, crew who had coronavirus were asymptomatic when tested, CDC report says
https://whdh.com/news/nearly-half-of-diamond-princess-cruise-ship-passengers-crew-who-had-coronavirus-were-asymptomatic-when-tested-cdc-report-says/?fbclid=IwAR1gpps5xBWdln0BG-dWngDoCK74QwmNiAaRV6XFosQU6LBEo3F3glgjODA
Quixote1818
(28,968 posts)mathematic
(1,439 posts)Fewer people to get sick in the future.