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How long have you actually been contagious?
The coronavirus has our daily lives under control again more than in the summer months. Even though most people experience only mild courses or show no symptoms, there are Covid-19 patients who are worse off. It is therefore important that all infected people, regardless of whether they show symptoms or not, isolate themselves so as not to endanger people belonging to risk groups. But how long have you actually been contagious? This varies greatly from person to person and mainly depends on whether the course is mild or severe. But a case study that has now been published shows that a very long period of infection is possible even without symptoms.
Is cancer the reason for the long contagiousness?
As scientists * report in the journal “Cell”, a 71-year-old woman was still emitting infectious particles 70 days after her first positive corona test. In this total time it has been tested positive 13 times, as reported by “Business Insider”. However, he had no symptoms. However, it is the longest known case of asymptomatic infection.
The reason the patient was tested so often despite the lack of symptoms is her leukemia. When the pandemic broke out in the United States, the woman was already hospitalized with anemia. The coronal infection was discovered more or less by accident. The researchers believe the cancer could also be the reason the patient has been contagious for so long. “Our data suggest that some immunocompromised patients may shed infectious viruses for longer periods of time than previously assumed,” say the study authors. These people could include cancer or transplant patients who are taking immunosuppressive drugs.
Immunocompromised people may be contagious for longer
However, the research team points out that the patient is an isolated case. Whether and how the findings can be extended to other immunodeficient patients needs to be further investigated. “As the virus continues to spread, more and more people will be infected with immunosuppressive diseases. It is therefore important to understand how SARS-CoV-2 behaves in these population groups,” explains virologist Vincent Munster of the National Institute of Allergy and Allergy. of the United States Infectious Diseases, “a co-author of the study.
Fortunately, most people infected with corona are not contagious for that long. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, studies show that mild cases have an average disease course of two weeks and severe cases of three to six weeks.
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