When are people with coronavirus most contagious? New study says it’s early on
.jpg "FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, health care personnel test a person in the passenger seat of a car for coronavirus at a Kaiser Permanente medical center parking lot in San Francisco. The Associated Press has found that the critical shortage of testing swabs, protective masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer can be tied to a sudden drop in imports of medical supplies. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)")
People are most contagious for spreading coronavirus before they show any symptoms, according to a new study.
A study published in Nature on Wednesday found people with minor symptoms, including a cough, low-grade fever, and headache, are most contagious before they show any symptoms, according to NBC.
How contagious someone is is determined by “viral sheddings,” or how much of the virus is released into an infected person’s surroundings, according to NBC. Respiratory droplets, which are released when someone sneezes or coughs, is the “leading mode of transmission,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, told NBC News.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told “TODAY” that he found the findings “very disturbing.”
“I mean, the idea of someone who’s asymptomatic shedding high titers of virus is very disturbing — because that person could be out there, feeling well, and inadvertently and innocently spreading the infection,” Fauci said, according to NBC.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield told NPR that “as many as 25%” of people are asymptomatic and “contribute to transmission.”
“Of those of us that get symptomatic, it appears that we’re shedding significant virus in our oropharyngeal compartment, probably up to 48 hours before we show symptoms,” Redfield told NPR. “This helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country, because we have asymptomatic transmitters and we have individuals who are transmitting 48 hours before they become symptomatic.”
The CDC is considering whether or not to expand its guidelines on wearing masks, according to The New York Times.
With a portion of infected people being contagious despite feeling healthy, experts say the best way to contain the virus is to practice social distancing, according to The New York Times.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 1 million people had confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide — including at least 266,000 in the United States, according to John Hopkins University. Fifty-eight thousand have died globally, while another 6,900 have succumbed to complications from the virus in the US.
Meanwhile, more than 225,000 have recovered throughout the world, including at least 9,000 in the states.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 3:08 PM with the headline "When are people with coronavirus most contagious? New study says it’s early on."