Rapid coronavirus tests may miss four in 10 asymptomatic people, a major review has concluded. Researchers who analysed 64 studies of the effectiveness of lateral flow devices found they failed to detect 42 per cent of cases who didn’t show signs of illness. The Cochrane review found the tests, which give a result in 30 … Read more
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has today defended his plans for the mass rollout of rapid Covid-19 testing for people who cannot work at home during the lockdown, after the pilot faced efficacy issues. Asked if the lateral flow rapid turnaround tests being deployed across England were the same as those used in a Liverpool pilot scheme Mr Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew … Read more
The director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the US must immediately develop a testing strategy to find and isolate symptom-free coronavirus cases. In a tweet on Wednesday, Dr Robert Redfield described a meeting he and Dr Deborah Birx, another member of the White House coronavirus task force, had with Utah … Read more
Children who test positive for COVID-19 but show none of the outward signs may have lower viral levels than the infected and symptomatic kids, a study suggested. Alternatively, experts said, the findings could be the result of the children being tested later in their disease — when their viral loads had fallen. The US research … Read more
More than 40% of coronavirus cases in US nursing homes are asymptomatic, new study finds Researchers looked at data from more than 500 nursing homes across 34 states A total of 40.6% of more than 5,400 positive coronavirus cases were asymptomatic with no signs such as fever, coughing or shortness of breath Nearly one in five … Read more
COVID-19 patients with and without symptoms are equally contagious: Asymptomatic people have just as much virus in their noses, mouths and lungs as those who cough and run fevers, study finds Researchers looked at 303 patients isolated at a treatment center in Cheonan, South Korea The viral loads of asymptomatic coronavirus patients were very similar to … Read more
As many as half of coronavirus patients with NO symptoms may silently suffer ‘disturbing’ lung damage that leaves them oxygen-deprived without knowing it, study finds Researchers looked at studies from 16 different groups including prison inmates, cruise ship passengers and nursing home residents About 45% of people infected with COVID-19 may never have traditional signs … Read more
Harvard scientists have slammed the World Health Organization (WHO) for suggesting that asymptomatic patients don’t spread the novel coronavirus. On Monday, the UN health agency said it had doubts that the virus was difficult contain due to people without signs such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. WHO officials said that symptomatic spread can … Read more
Nearly half of all cases of the novel coronavirus may be asymptomatic, a new study suggests. Researchers found that more than 40 percent of patients didn’t experience a cough, a fever or difficulty breathing. These patients were more likely to be younger, female, and have much less damage to organs such as the lung and … Read more
Sniffer dogs that can detect asymptomatic coronavirus carriers could screen 250 people an hour Labrador and cocker spaniels are undergoing intensive sniffer dog training They can already sniff out potentially diseases like cancer and malaria Trials will see if they can correctly identify the odour of Covid-19 on humans The approach could ‘revolutionise how we … Read more