Should isolation periods be shorter for people with Covid-19?

Team Udayavani, Dec 1, 2020, 2:07 PM IST

According to a new analysis, Patients are usually most infectious two days before symptoms begin and for five days after

According to NY times, A few patients who are extremely ill or have impaired immune systems may expel or shed the virus for as long as 20 days, other studies have suggested. Even in mild cases, some patients may shed live virus for about a week, the new analysis found.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends is considering shortening the recommended isolation period and may issue new guidelines as early as next week.

It now recommends people isolate for a minimum of 10 days from the beginning of their illness.

Dr. Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert at the University of St Andrews in Scotland led the new analysis. Cevik said, “ Setting the isolation period at five days is likely to be much more palatable and may encourage more infected people to comply”

As reported by NY times,  researchers considered nearly 1,500 studies published from 2003 to June 2020 on the timing of infection in thousands of people.  The analysis concluded that people with Covid-19 usually are most infectious a day or two before the onset of symptoms until about five days after. Yet patients may carry genetic fragments from the virus in their noses and throats for an average of 17 days, and, in some cases, for up to three months.

The analysis is published in the journal The Lancet Microbe.