The coronavirus can show almost every symptom in the book, from vomiting to pink eye. But while your cough may have been too much to analyze and you may feel tired at the end of a long day, the truth is that your symptoms may not be the strongest indication that you are sick – and that’s part of why COVID is so worrying. A new study of the University of Chicago The Department of Ecology and Evolution has determined that the majority of COVID patients have one thing in mind is that they have no symptoms at all or symptoms that are so subtle that you will hardly notice it. Read on to find out more about how common asymptomatic cases really are, and for more information on the future pandemic, see why the UK top scientist has a cool COVID warning for Americans.
For the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences On February 10, the researchers reviewed cases recorded in New York City from March to June. They concluded that only about 13 to 18 percent of COVID cases produce significant symptoms, meaning that about 80 percent of those infected with COVID are asymptomatic, or at least experience such mild symptoms that they do not realize they are infected.
“There are many asymptomatic people – much larger than many studies have assumed,” said the study’s author Rahul Subramanian, a graduate researcher in epidemiology at the University of Chicago, told Insider. And for one subtle sign that you can dodge, look if you are over 65, you may be missing this COVID symptom, study says.
A lack of symptoms also does not mean that you can not spread the virus. According to the study, asymptomatic cases and pre-symptomatic cases (those who are infected but have not yet begun to show symptoms) “significantly promote the transmission of the community.”
“We can see that more than 50 percent of the transmission in the community is of asymptomatic people – those who are asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic,” the senior author said. Mercedes Pascual, PhD, the Louis Block professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, said in a statement. And sign up for our daily newsletter for more up-to-date COVID news delivered directly to your inbox.
An asymptomatic case can still affect you in the long run. In fact, several studies have shown that long-term health issues arise in those who had COVID but had no symptoms. Eric J. Topol, Managing Director, Founder and Director of Scripps Translational Institute, tells The Wall Street Journal that at least four studies to date have analyzed the lung scans of asymptomatic individuals and found that “half have significant abnormalities similar to COVID pneumonia, but without symptoms.” And a study published in July in JAMA Cardiology detected abnormal cardiac MRIs in both symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID patients, and concluded that heart damage due to the virus is possible, no matter how mild or severe your case.
“There is a risk of internal hits for these people of which they are unaware,” Topol said. “If things happen slowly in a person below the surface, you could have a chronic situation.” And for more information on how the virus can progress, if you did, you are twice as likely to develop severe COVID.
Researchers from the University of Chicago say the study shows how much importance should be given to testing non-symptomatic people, especially given the “ambiguity in recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing of asymptomatic individuals . ” According to the latest guidelines from the CDC, most people without symptoms do not need to be tested for COVID unless they have been knowingly in close contact with someone who is infected, who is at least 15 minutes within six feet.
But study co-author Qixin Hy, PhD, now an assistant professor at Purdue University, warns that the research proves that it is important that everyone – including individuals who do not show symptoms – adhere to public health guidelines, such as masking and social distance, and that mass testing made easily accessible to all. ‘And for more information from the country’s leading health agency, If you put these masks together, the CDC says to stop immediately.