ISSN: 1449-2288International Journal of Biological Sciences
Global reach, higher impact
Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(4):1119-1124. doi:10.7150/ijbs.59374 This issue Cite
Review
Assessment of global asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and management practices from China
The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, National Children's Regional Medical Center, Hangzhou 310052, China.
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
With ongoing research, it was found that asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was widespread in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) populations. Studies have confirmed asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 have potential infectivity, and most of the transmission occurred before symptoms appear. Asymptomatic infection rates varied widely in different countries and regions. Identifying the asymptomatic infected persons and cutting off the infection source is an effective way to prevent the spread of this disease. However, asymptomatic patients have hidden clinical symptoms, and screening based only on the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 can easily lead to a missed diagnosis. Therefore, determining asymptomatic infection patients by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing is the gold standard. A series of prevention and control measures adopted by the Chinese government, especially the “Four Early” policy, have achieved outstanding achievements, which are worth learning from by other countries.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, asymptomatic infection, COVID-19
Citation styles
