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The study was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE on Tuesday.
If the number of asymptomatic infections were high, so-called mass immunity would be readily available, according to one theory.
“This is most likely not the case“said Nicola Low, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern, lead author of the study for the Swiss news agency SDA.
There is no consensus among experts on the number of asymptomatic infections, since once considered asymptomatic, symptoms may appear later, in which case we speak of presymptomatic, that is, patients before the onset of symptoms.
Low and his research team evaluated data from 79 previous studies. The papers included data from infected people whose symptoms were studied over a longer period of time between March and June.
Of the 6,616 infected, only 1,287 remained asymptomatic during the course of the disease, and about 80 percent had symptoms sooner or later.
When the scope of the analyzed studies was reduced to works where the subjects were randomly selected, then not only were they treated in the hospital, the proportion of asymptomatic infections increased to 30 percent. Researchers have also found that children are less likely to develop the disease than adults.
The analysis of the research, that is, the so-called meta-analysis, confirmed that asymptomatic infections play a relatively small role in the spread of the virus.
The problem is not with them, but with so-called presymptomatic infections, which are not yet aware of their illness, Low noted, adding that it is important to adhere to the general rules of masking and distance to stop the pandemic.
Low and his team continue to monitor the studies of the asymptomatic course of Covid-19 caused by the coronavirus, as 900 additional studies, potentially significant, according to the scientist, have been published since the present work was completed.
Meanwhile, a broader range of symptoms has come to light than was known at the start of the epidemic, in addition to coughing and choking, loss of taste and smell perception and pain in the extremities are already considered. . With this knowledge, the number of asymptomatic infections can be more accurately determined in the future.
Cover image: Getty Images
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