Wuhan team: 3-10% of Covid-19 patients after discharge were positive for the virus but did not infect others.

Global scientists are still learning about the new strain of the virus that causes Covid-19. In particular, the top concern is whether or not a patient may leave the hospital at risk of infecting others. And will they develop antibodies to build immunity to the disease?

Doctors at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan City also conducted research on 147 recovered Covid-19 patients. As a result, 5 people were positive for the results of nucleic acid test, equivalent to 3% of the study subjects.

In addition, the team of doctors in Tongji confirmed to CCTV that there was no evidence that patients who were positive for the virus were contagious – according to observations of their family members not being infected. and follow laboratory tests.

Although the scope of the study was relatively small (147 people), the conclusions of Tongji Hospital were commensurate with the epidemic situation in mainland China. The outbreak broke out in December 2019, leaving at least 81,000 people ill and more than 3,200 dead. But now, up to 90% of patients have been discharged. This suggests that the number of people recovering is higher than the number of new infections, thus rejecting the hypothesis that hospitalized people are still at risk of transmission.

In the Dong Te Hospital study, only 5 of 147 patients were positive for the virus after discharge, accounting for 3% (Image: Xinhua)

Besides Dong Te Hospital, another study also published in the health magazine Life Times (linked to the People’s Daily) said that only 5-10% of Covid-19 patients were positive again. virus after discharge.

Previously, this magazine reported that many “re-infected” patients were Covid-19, including 3 members in a family. Such incidents have raised concerns about the sensitivity and stability of nucleic acid assays. On the other hand, some experts believe that there was a mistake during the collection and processing of patient samples.

The latest research from Tongji Hospital is an attempt to clarify these doubts. Wang Wei, director of the hospital, said that although five patients in the study were positive for the virus, they did not develop symptoms, and their families or close contacts were not infected.

“Until now there is no evidence to say they are contagious ” – Director Wang expressed. In addition, Mr. Wang said monitoring a similar group of patients showed that 80-90% had no trace of the virus in their blood after 1 month of discharge.

To date, there is no evidence that Covid-19 patients still spread the virus after recovering and leaving the hospital (Artwork).

Nevertheless, Mr. Wang Wei acknowledged that the scope of research was not wide enough. “This is only a small number of samples. We need larger epidemiological studies to be able to devise a surveillance procedure for Covid-19 patients after discharge.”

Now based on known knowledge, Mr. Wang recommends that patients after discharge be certain to be isolated on their own for 2 weeks, then perform another test to rule out any risk of “re-infection”.

Respiratory disease expert Tong Chaohui, a member of the Hubei Provincial Health Agency, also agreed with the view that it is necessary to continue monitoring patients who have been discharged.

“To date, we have not recorded evidence that Covid-19 patients infected their families after discharge. Although some patients were positive for the virus, random testing showed that they had all develop antibodies to protect the body against this strain of virus, “ Tong told CCTV.

Regarding the response to the positive cases with the virus, Tu Yuanchao, deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Health Committee, said patients with symptoms would need to return to the hospital. Those who are asymptomatic need to be in intensive isolation for follow up within 2 weeks.

In summary, according to two independent studies in Wuhan, only about 3-10% of patients were positive for SARS-2-nCoV virus after discharge, but they did not infect others.

(According to SCMP)