Turkish scientists have found that asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus have a higher viral load than those who show signs of COVID-19. In addition, low viral load was associated with the likelihood of a poor prognosis of the course of the disease. With severe complications, there is a low virus content in smears. An article by researchers, which cites one of the reasons for the unsuccessful fight against the pandemic, was published in the journal Infection.
60 patients took part in testing, from whom 360 samples were taken, including saliva, swabs from the nasopharynx, oral cavity and rectum, as well as urine and blood. 15 people were asymptomatic and 45 showed signs of COVID-19 of varying severity. The researchers found a significant difference between the mean age of symptomatic patients (36.4 years) and those without symptoms (26.4 years). At the same time, the viral load in the latter was the highest, and decreased with age and severity of symptoms.
According to the authors of the work, the fact that asymptomatic patients have a peak viral load indicates their particular danger to others due to their high infectivity. It also makes coping with the pandemic more difficult because outreach efforts do not include searching for the virus in apparently healthy patients. Although asymptomatic patients do not cough, the virus can be released into the air through normal breathing.