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Those infected with covid-19 must undergo a new test at least four weeks after the first symptoms appear, to confirm the cure and minimize the risk of contagion, reveals a study in the journal ‘BMJ Open’.
The authors of the study published on Wednesday, based in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna [norte], he warned that, according to his research, the new coronavirus “takes an average of 30 days to disappear from the body after the first positive test and 36 days after the first symptoms.”
According to the EFE news agency, the researchers note, however, that “it is still unknown to what extent a person is likely to transmit the virus during the period of convalescence.”
And they also emphasize that “the rate of” false negatives “obtained in the tests carried out during the first phases of the patient’s recovery is” relatively high “.
The study, led by Francesco Venturelli, from the Epidemiology unit of the IRCCS in Reggio Emilia, argues that it is important to carry out new tests after the period of at least four weeks, to minimize the risk of contagion from the spread of covid-19.
And they warn that, once the time it takes for the virus to disappear from the human body has been established, the recommended isolation period for people with or without symptoms must be modified, which is currently 14 days, set by the World Health Organization ( WHO). .
To reach these conclusions, the research team analyzed the evolution of 4,480 inhabitants of Reggio Emilia, one of the areas of Italy most affected by the pandemic, who tested positive for the new coronavirus between February 26 and April 22.
Of this group of patients, 428 people died, 1,259 were considered virus-free during the period in which the study was conducted, with at least one negative test after a positive initial.
The average period to record virus absence after the first positive was 31 days, the researchers noted.
The research team performed a second test on 1,162 patients within 15 days of the first positive diagnosis, 14 days after the second test, and nine days after the third test.
The study showed that some initially obtained negative results were false, as they became positive in subsequent tests, with a ratio of one false negative for every five negative results.
The research authors argue that testing 14 days after the first positive leads to “in most cases the same result” and there is still a “relatively high” rate of false negatives up to three weeks later.
Since the results indicate that the period of infection can be “very long”, the researchers believe that, to avoid further contagion, “the isolation period should be increased, to 30 days from the first symptoms, and that patients should be subjected to at least one test “before the end of the quarantine.
The coronavirus pandemic that causes covid-19 has already killed at least 857,824 people and infected more than 25.8 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
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