Asymptomatic cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection

Yishan Wang; Hanyujie Kang; Xuefeng Liu; Zhaohui Tong

doi:10.1002/jmv.25990

Asymptomatic cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection

J Med Virol. 2020 Sep;92(9):1401-1403. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25990. Epub 2020 May 22.

Authors

Yishan Wang¹, Hanyujie Kang¹, Xuefeng Liu², Zhaohui Tong¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Departments of Pathology and Oncology I Center for Cell Reprogramming I Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC.

Abstract

On 31 March 2020, Chinese Health Authorization announced that numbers of asymptomatic cases with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection will be made to the public daily. This was a very important step since different counties have different capacities for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and control strategy for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 outbreak. We summarized the characteristics of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and the transmission potential of asymptomatic cases. Then we provided guidelines for the management of asymptomatic cases through quarantine and nucleic acid/serology tests.

Keywords: SARS coronavirus; coronavirus; epidemiology; horizontal transmission; pathogenesis; respiratory tract; virus classification.

MeSH terms

Asymptomatic Infections / epidemiology*
COVID-19 / epidemiology*
China
Humans
Pandemics