The authors of the study encourage those considered cured to continue to apply barrier gestures because studies found out that most of them are still carrying the Covid-19 virus.
1. A NON-NEGLIGIBLE PROPORTION OF PATIENTS CONSIDERED TO BE CURED AND STILL CARRYING THE VIRUS
In work presented in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a team of scientists from the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario in Italy followed more than 100 patients who had been given Covid-19.
And it turned out that nearly 16.7% of them tested positive for the virus again. “Our research shows that a significant proportion of patients cured of Covid-19 may still be asymptomatic carriers of the virus,” notes Francesco Landi, lead author of the study.
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The researchers also found that patients who continued to experience breathing symptoms, particularly sore throats and rhinitis, after recovery were also more likely to test positive again.
“While specialists and researchers have focused on the acute phase of Covid-19, these consequence show that it is obligatory to continue to monitor its effects in the longer term after renouncing hospital,” says Landi.
The 131 patients evaluated by the Italian scientists met all the criteria set by the WHO to be considered cured.
These criteria included no fever for at least 72 hours, an improvement in general health and any symptoms related to Covid-19, and two negative PCR test results for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, performed at least 24 hours apart.
2. PERSISTENT SYMPTOMS IN A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SUBJECTS
“The question that still needs to be answered to contain the CoV-2 SARS pandemic is whether the persistent presence of fragments of the virus means that patients are still contagious,” notes Landi.
Although no positive cases were recorded in the entourage of patients who tested positive again, suggesting low infectivity, the authors of the study encourage those considered cured to continue to apply barrier gestures (social distancing, wearing a mask, regular hand washing, etc.)
