What is the difference between confirmed patients and asymptomatic infected patients ? Are asymptomatic infected people still contagious after leaving the cabin? Why are there so many asymptomatic infections this time? On September 28, with these issues of concern to the masses, the reporter asked Zhou Wei, the leader of the Autonomous Region’s COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Expert Group and the director of the Autonomous Region People’s Hospital.
Question 1: What is the difference between confirmed patients and asymptomatic infected people?
"Why do we call asymptomatic infected persons, not asymptomatic patients? It is because asymptomatic infected persons do not develop the disease after being infected. They are not patients, but they are not patients, so they can only call them asymptomatic infected persons. However, both confirmed patients and asymptomatic infected persons are infected by the new coronavirus. The fundamental difference between the two is that the confirmed patients have symptoms or lung lesions after being infected; asymptomatic infected persons do not develop the disease after being infected." Zhou Wei said.
H nucleic acid test for both confirmed cases and asymptomatic infected persons will be positive. Among them, there are two situations for asymptomatic infections: one is that they have been infected with the new coronavirus but are still in the incubation period, and symptoms such as fever and cough may not appear after two days. Another type: after being infected with the new coronavirus, there are no symptoms. Even during the course of the disease, the nucleic acid gradually turns negative but never shows symptoms. This type of population is less likely to be discovered and will cause more infections.
But whether it is a confirmed patient or an asymptomatic infected person, their infectivity is basically the same.
Question 2: In this round of epidemic, we found that there were fewer confirmed cases but many asymptomatic infections. Why is this?
"Three factors cause this phenomenon," said Zhou Wei.
The first decisive factor is the characteristic of the Omickron virus, which is that it is extremely fast in transmission and weakened in pathogenicity. In fact, when we detected the first positive case, it may have been more than a week of occult transmission. In this round of epidemic, we found that unlike the epidemics encountered in 2020 and 2021, the spread is fast, the number of cases increases rapidly, and there are intensive growth. However, because the pathogenicity is weakened, the symptoms of people themselves are mild after infection, so there are more asymptomatic infections this time.
The second factor is Ningxia speed. On September 20, Ningxia responded quickly after the first case was detected in Zhongning County . The Party Committee and Government of the Autonomous Region made arrangements as soon as possible. In the early morning of the same day, the Autonomous Region’s epidemic response work command went to Zhongning County and immediately blocked Zhongning County. This quick action, decisive control and accurate scope allow us to conduct nucleic acid testing and screening in the shortest time and take control measures in a timely manner. Many infected people were screened, some of which were in the incubation period and had no symptoms, which showed that there were more asymptomatic infections.
The third factor is the new coronavirus vaccination. Vaccination can significantly reduce the appearance of severe and critical patients.
So, there are many asymptomatic infections in this round of epidemic and many mild cases.
Question 3: How long does it take for asymptomatic infected people to treat? Are asymptomatic infected people who have already left the cabin still contagious? Can you work and live normally?
Zhou Wei said that the management of asymptomatic infections is the same as that of confirmed cases. It does not mean that asymptomatic infections can be isolated to the temporary cabin for a few days before they can leave the cabin.
For normal confirmed patients, nucleic acid tests twice 24 hours apart, CT value is greater than 35 and can be discharged from the hospital. The same is true for asymptomatic infected people. It is not calculated by time, but by the nucleic acid test results. The interval between the two nucleic acids is 24 hours, and the CT value is greater than 35 before it can be discharged. Therefore, it is safe to discharge the confirmed patient, and it is also safe to discharge the asymptomatic infected person.
Of course, whether it is a confirmed case or an asymptomatic infection, about 10% of the people will re-posit. However, according to the research results, there is no evidence that patients with re-positive positive have been infected with others. In other words, patients with re-positive behavior are safe and no longer contagious.However, in order to be safer, Ningxia, according to the provisions of the Ninth Edition of the National Prevention and Control Plan, will take home health monitoring for one week and three nucleic acid testing measures for asymptomatic infections who leave the cabin. If the three test results are negative, you can work and live normally, and you don’t have to worry about being infected after contact. (Ningxia Daily Client)
