We have been told everything and the opposite of everything, now the WHO announces that contagion from asymptomatic patients, although possible, is extremely rare
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousAccording to the most recent scientific literature from all countries of the world, contagion from asymptomatic patients, although possible, is to be considered extremely rare and cannot in any way represent one of the engines of spreading the virus.
The sunset of the myth of the asymptomatic is written in the words spoken by Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the World Health Organization unit that deals with coronavirus, emerging diseases and zoonoses, who stated it in no uncertain terms during a press conference.
Asymptomatic patients, therefore, are not driving the spread of the virus at all. Thus all the concerns of some researchers collapse according to which the disease could be difficult to contain precisely because of asymptomatic infections.
Some people, particularly young and otherwise healthy individuals infected with the coronavirus, never develop symptoms (or develop only mild symptoms). Others may not develop symptoms for days after they are actually infected.
Preliminary evidence from the early outbreaks indicated that the virus could spread from person-to-person contact, even if one of them never had symptoms. But WHO officials now say that, yes, asymptomatic spread can occur, but it's not the primary way Covid-19 is transmitted.
Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros https://t.co/OpAU2fsxlR
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 8, 2020
“From the data we have, it seems extremely rare for an asymptomatic person to actually pass sight to another individual. This is extremely rare, ”said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove.
As a result, the best defense strategy against the coronavirus remains the identification and isolation of infected people with symptoms, as well as monitoring anyone who may have come into contact with them.
“More research and data are needed to 'truly answer' the question of whether the coronavirus can spread widely through asymptomatic carriers, added Van Kerkhove. We have a number of reports from countries that are doing very detailed contact tracing. They are following asymptomatic cases. They are following the contacts. And they're not finding the secondary transmission. It's very rare. "
If asymptomatic spread proves not to be the primary transmission factor for coronavirus, the political implications could be huge.
“What we really want to focus on is following symptomatic cases,” concludes Van Kerkhove. "If we actually followed all symptomatic cases, isolating those cases, following the contacts and placing them in quarantine, we would drastically reduce the epidemic."
UPDATE OF 10 JUNE 2020
After the statements by Van Kerkhove and the controversy aroused, there was a clarification (and a turnaround by the WHO official who allegedly stated:
“I was answering a question and not expressing a WHO position. I used the word 'very rare' and there was a misunderstanding because I seemed to say that asymptomatic transmission is globally very rare. While I was referring to a limited data set "
To learn more:
Asymptomatic, the WHO hastens to retract: contagion is possible and "more studies are needed"
Source: WHO
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