HealthDay Reports: Coronavirus Hangs Around Even After Symptoms Subside
Even if a person's COVID-19 symptoms go away, that doesn't mean they're in the clear and can't transmit the virus to others. In fact, a small study found that coronavirus can hang around up to eight days after symptoms are gone — and if someone had a more severe case of COVID-19, that time period could be even longer.
This means that people who have recovered from COVID-19 might still need to be treated as if they're infected for a period of time after their symptoms disappear, according to two of the researchers involved in the study.
Coronavirus Hangs Around Even After Symptoms Subside
FRIDAY, April 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Even after people with mild cases of COVID-19 feel better, new research shows that half still have the virus for up to eight days after symptoms are gone.
That's the conclusion of a small international study of 16 COVID-19 patients in China. The researchers took several throat swabs from all of them.
"The most significant finding from our study is that half of the patients kept shedding the virus even after resolution of their symptoms," said co-lead author Lokesh Sharma, an instructor at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. "More severe infections may have even longer shedding times."