Study reveals why self-isolation is significant in early stages of COVID-19 symptoms

Coronavirus outbreak continues to impact all aspects of human life all over the world. The majority of the countries in the world have announced a lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19, a deadly respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus. Because the research is in its infancy, patients, doctors, and researchers are finding it difficult to recognize symptoms at the right time.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are believed to be fever, tiredness, dry cough, and difficulty in breathing in severe cases. Some patients may also experience a runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, congestion, body aches, diarrhoea, and more. However, some people become seriously ill, others experience mild symptoms. This makes it difficult to recognize who might be the carrier of the virus and who is not, tempting people to compromise social-isolation practice and put others in danger.

Meanwhile, Express UK is reporting that a new study reveals when coronvirus could be most contagious. Research published in The Lancet suggests that self-isolation is a good idea even when the symptoms are mild to nil. The virus can spread easily no matter at what stage of illness the patient is in.

The study led by Kwok-Yung Yuen from the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control of the University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen Hospital suggests that "the viral load of the novel coronavirus was very high at the early stages of symptoms for most patients."

This means that the viral component is high in the infected person at an early stage and they are more likely to infect others easily by shedding high measure of viral particles even if they are experiencing mild symptoms. The study was conducted using the infected persons' samples of blood, urine, posterior oropharyngeal saliva, and rectal swabs of 23 patients in Hong Kong hospitals.

As per the report, the study revealed that the patients' salivary viral load was at its highest in the first week of developing the symptoms. The viral load declines subsequently over a period of time.

In the elderly, COVID-19 patients, the viral load was also found out to be higher. This confirms the suggestion that older people are at greater risk of getting infected by coronavirus. The findings go on to claim that the high viral load at the beginning stage of symptoms could be one reason why it is a fast-spreading disease that has now been declared a pandemic by WHO.

Therefore, the study emphasises "the importance of stringent infection control and early use of potent antiviral agents, alone or in combination, for high-risk individuals."

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as SARS-CoV-2. The pandemic that started in Wuhan, China has now spread to the majority of the countries in the world. So far, there are 722, 430 confirmed cases and close to 34,000 deaths. There is currently no vaccine to prevent the coronavirus spread. However, researchers and scientists all over the world are aggressively working towards it.