There is as yet not enough research to determine definitively if silent spreaders are fueling the pandemic.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Ever since the coronavirus was labeled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the central message of most public health agencies has been to look out for symptoms such as high fever and breathing difficulties.

However, it’s possible that people who show no symptoms, also known as “silent carriers,” may be fueling the pandemic.

What is clear is that “pre-symptomatic transmission” is real. That’s where people who haven’t yet shown symptoms and aren’t aware they are sick continue to move through the population spreading the disease before they fall ill themselves.

Silent carriers are divided into three categories.

Asymptomatic

Asymptomatic cases carry the virus in their bodies but never develop any symptoms.

The WHO confirmed on April 1 that asymptomatic cases are indeed present in the population. Twenty-five percent of those tested in a Chinese research study were found to be positive for the coronavirus yet showed no symptoms.

Presymptomatic

Presymptomatic cases carry the virus but don’t yet show symptoms until later on.

Even though classic coronavirus symptoms may take two weeks to appear, mounting evidence shows these silent carriers can be diagnosed with coronavirus one to three days before symptoms emerge, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.

“About 75 percent of people who test positive without showing symptoms turn out to be presymptomatic, displaying coughing, fatigue, fever, and other signs of COVID-19 in a later follow-up exam,” said Van Kerkhove.

Mildly symptomatic

Mildly symptomatic cases feel fatigued, cough, and possibly run a slight fever but attribute it to overexertion at work or other daily life stressors.

Although technically not considered to be silent carriers, the fact these symptoms are often misconstrued to be something else can be very dangerous.

An epidemiological research study published in Science China Life Sciences reported on a man who returned to his home in Nanjing from a trip to Hubei province, the epicenter of China’s epidemic.

He believed himself to be ill because of the long trip back home. But shortly afterward, his wife developed severe pneumonia and was placed in an intensive care unit with corona.

Can they infect?

It’s not clear yet and may never be because tracking silent carriers is virtually impossible, says Prof. Carl Heneghan of the University of Oxford, as quoted by NPR.

According to Heneghan, the ability to know for certain how many coronavirus silent carriers have contributed to the global infection and death rate will probably never be known, because asymptomatic cases can range anywhere from 5 to 80 percent.

The post Super spreaders: Silent corona carriers without symptoms big unknown appeared first on World Israel News.

German virologist discovered another symptom caused by the coronavirus.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Loss of taste and smell may be a symptom associated with the coronavirus, says German virologist Hendrik Streeck.

“Almost all infected people we interviewed, and this applies to a good two thirds, described a loss of smell and taste lasting several days,” Streeck told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday.

“It goes so far that a mother could not smell the full diaper of her child. Others could no longer smell their shampoo, and food began to taste bland.” he said.

Streeck specified the stage at which these symptoms are likely to appear, and believes the chances of the symptoms presenting are higher the longer an infected person has the virus.

The German virologist also noted that diarrhea could be a symptom related to the coronavirus.

“Diarrhea also occurred in infected people in 30 percent of the cases, which is more common than previously thought,” he said.

Streeck’s assessment is based on interviews of infected persons in Heinsberg, a district particularly affected by the coronavirus,  as well as samples taken from the air, doorknobs, cell phones, remote controls, and toilet water.

Last week, thelocal.de reported that Heinsberg has 292 confirmed cases of the deadly virus.

Streeck’s research team is also working on comparing a rapid blood test from a German company with the standard test. The rapid test is performed by taking a small blood sample from the fingertip that responds to any antibodies in the blood.

Meanwhile, Israel is working on a vaccine with the hope that it can be ready for use in a matter of months.

China also announced this week that it is launching clinical trials for a vaccine and U.S. officials began human trial testing on Monday of a potential vaccine as well.

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