Study Saying Virus Spreads Without Symptoms Flawed

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   Study claiming new coronavirus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
By Kai KupferschmidtFeb. 3, 2020 , 5:30 PM

A paper published on 30 January in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) about the first four people in Germany infected with a novel coronavirus made many headlines because it seemed to confirm what public health experts feared: that someone who has no symptoms from infection with the virus, named 2019-nCoV, can still transmit it to others. That might make controlling the virus much harder.

Chinese researchers had previously suggested asymptomatic people might transmit the virus but had not presented clear-cut evidence. “There’s no doubt after reading [the NEJM] paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told journalists. “This study lays the question to rest.”

But now, it turns out that information was wrong. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German government’s public health agency, has written a letter to NEJM to set the record straight, even though it was not involved in the paper. 

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomatic-patient-transmitting-coronavirus-wrong

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Southeastern Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List V.I.P. Member Joined: January 26 2020 Location: Southeastern US Status: Offline Points: 1005	Post Options Post Reply Quote Southeastern Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Study Saying Virus Spreads Without Symptoms Flawed Posted: February 03 2020 at 5:34pm
	Study claiming new coronavirus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE By Kai KupferschmidtFeb. 3, 2020 , 5:30 PM A paper published on 30 January in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) about the first four people in Germany infected with a novel coronavirus made many headlines because it seemed to confirm what public health experts feared: that someone who has no symptoms from infection with the virus, named 2019-nCoV, can still transmit it to others. That might make controlling the virus much harder. Chinese researchers had previously suggested asymptomatic people might transmit the virus but had not presented clear-cut evidence. “There’s no doubt after reading [the NEJM] paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told journalists. “This study lays the question to rest.” But now, it turns out that information was wrong. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German government’s public health agency, has written a letter to NEJM to set the record straight, even though it was not involved in the paper. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomatic-patient-transmitting-coronavirus-wrong
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