Covid-19 first-of-its-kind study saw volunteers infected for science

[UpInArms]

Source: News Digital Media

The first “controlled investigation” of Covid-19 has been carried out and it has allowed researchers to dispel a widespread myth about the way people become infected.
The human challenge study involved people being deliberately infected with a virus — in this case it was SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

The study, published last week in the journal Nature Medicine, found that only the most minuscule amount of the virus is needed to infect a person — as much as a single airborne droplet from a person sneezing, coughing or talking.

It also found that, despite what most people have been told, viral shedding and transmissibility occur at high levels when a person is infected regardless of whether they have severe or mild symptoms.

Researchers from University College London Hospital, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, among others, were also able to bust another myth, one pushed mostly by anti-maskers.

Read more: https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/covid19-firstofitskind-study-saw-volunteers-infected-for-science/news-story/770261dddb58d36048136a78e4c961b1

[KS Toronado]

1. From the link....

They found the virus is “present at significantly higher (levels) in the nose than the throat”, a finding they
said provides “clear evidence that emphasises the critical importance of wearing face coverings over the
nose as well as the mouth”.

[Pobeka]

6. "at its peak", that important qualifier is in the paper

"However, at its peak, VL was significantly higher ..." (from the bottom left paragraph on physical page #3)
---

If you look at graphs 2a and 2b, there are clearly a lot of days where the virus in the throat is higher than the nose.

Just eyeballing it, I'd say the virus concentrations in the nose/throat on average are about the same over the coarse of the infection.

On edit: Nope, on average the nose has more virus than the throat in this study (graph 2e), but there are still a lot of individual days where the throat is higher than the nose pre-peak and post-peak.

[Farmer-Rick]

2. So amount of exposure

To the virus is incidental. Only a small amount can infect you.

And the nose spreads it later but more aggressively.

Wow, those volunteers are true heroes.

[tanyev]

3. Marking to read later.

[nuxvomica]

4. A mask the just covers the nose might be worthwhile

Last edited Mon Apr 4, 2022, 10:47 AM - Edit history (1)

People dining out could wear them while still eating if transmission is more likely from the nose.

[Ace Rothstein]

8. Nobody is going to do that.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Bravo to the volunteers. But this all sorta seems to confirm what health officials have

said all along. Cover your snozzola.

[C Moon]

7. Oh wow. This person should get a medal...

“ Six months after the study ended, one of the participants has still not regained their full smell.”

[lapfog_1]

9. despite what most people have been told

It also found that, despite what most people have been told, viral shedding and transmissible occur at high levels when a person is infected regardless of whether they have severe or mild symptoms.

most people have been told this? I remember just the opposite... that the people must responsible for understanding this pandemic have been saying that people can be infectious even if they themselves exhibit NO symptoms.