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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCoronavirus Can Live in Patients for Five Weeks After Contagion
Coronavirus Can Live in Patients for Five Weeks After Contagion
By Claire Che
March 12, 2020, 6:29 AM EDT
Patients with the new coronavirus keep the pathogen in their respiratory tract for as long as 37 days, a new study found, suggesting they could remain infectious for many weeks.
In yet another sign of how difficult the pandemic may be to contain, doctors in China detected the viruss RNA in respiratory samples from survivors for a median of 20 days after they became infected, they wrote in an article published in the Lancet medical journal.
The new coronavirus has spread to 118 countries and infected about 125,000 people since first emerging in Wuhan, China, at the end of last year, evading drastic efforts by local authorities and subsequent containment attempts in other nations.
2020-wuhan-novel-coronavirus-outbreak-inline
The findings have important implications for both patient isolation decision-making and guidance around the length of antiviral treatment, Fei Zhou from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the other authors wrote.
Currently, the recommended isolation period after exposure is 14 days to avoid spreading the virus. But if people remain contagious long after their symptoms have vanished, they may unwittingly propagate the pathogen after they return from quarantine.
more...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-12/coronavirus-can-live-in-patients-for-five-weeks-after-contagion?fbclid=IwAR0zHF1e8QpWb7oPYQGUzOHOtaN8jDuAvf9l2w0dxvNEBTH26-lSckbDSxw
lapfog_1
(29,205 posts)It's not. It doesn't mind hot weather, it hangs out of surfaces like metal and glass for days (10 days in some reports), it hangs out in the air after a person sneezes for maybe 3 hours.
It is a very resilient Virus. Very infectious.
And even if you don't die (1% is still way high... Italy is saying their fatality rate is 6%) if you are in the unlucky 17% that get a more serious case (young adults, this one is for you)... you will end up with permanent lung damage, sometimes very severe. The rest of your life you will have shortness of breath and possibility of dying from the next flu you get.
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)Chakaconcarne
(2,453 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,608 posts)More bad news. I am tired of 3+ years of bad news.
SilasSouleII
(363 posts)StarryNite
(9,446 posts)uponit7771
(90,347 posts)superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)crickets
(25,981 posts)pass something to mandate WHO tests now, to address job issues now. If it stalls in the Senate, make the loudest stink ever about the political leaders who want the rest of us to die --for profit and political points, of course. Lamar Alexander, we are all looking at you. May your name be mud forever more.
It's only with testing and some sort of long term plan addressing people and their needs, not the stupid stock market, that this thing is going to get brought under control. And I say this a retiree who just got creamed... it is not at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Public health and job stability are the current issues that matter. Finding some way to get testing going, to get sick people a way to stay home safely, and to keep the country's labor infrastructure from collapsing will do far more good long term than any of the BS that's currently floating out there now.
iluvtennis
(19,862 posts)crickets
(25,981 posts)berni_mccoy
(23,018 posts)totodeinhere
(13,058 posts)Will gloves protect me? Or could I contaminate myself when I take the gloves off?
babylonsister
(171,070 posts)but how do we live without them? Keep washing your hands, for starters...
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/coronavirus-plastic-stainless-steel-surfaces
The Coronavirus May Linger On Plastic And Stainless Steel For Days, A Preliminary Study Found
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615348/heres-how-long-the-coronavirus-can-stay-in-the-air-and-on-packages/
Heres how long the coronavirus can live in the air and on packages
The virus prefers steel and plastic, materials commonly found in hospitals and homes.
https://www.today.com/health/can-gloves-protect-coronavirus-experts-stress-gloves-are-not-solution-t175668
Doctors warn that disposable gloves can't protect from coronavirus
As the new coronavirus outbreak spreads, people are trying to protect themselves. Some are using disposable gloves, but doctors warn that it's not a solution.
snip//
And gloves are not recommended either: "This isn't something the general public would be wearing," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "I don't think they're going to do anything but give people a false sense of security, waste time and create more demand for something that's unnecessary, just like masks."
snip//
Holmes added that researchers currently believe the virus can live on surfaces. Sneezing or coughing into gloves, she said, could create a new surface for the virus to live on, which people might contaminate themselves with when taking off gloves or touching surfaces.
totodeinhere
(13,058 posts)MontanaMama
(23,322 posts)gordianot
(15,238 posts)Guess who is saying that? As I sit here seething.