According to a study conducted in China, patients with the coronavirus may not show symptoms for more than three weeks. If these results have not yet been verified internationally, scientists also raise another problem:the risk of contamination by wastewater.
The February 9, 2020 study available on the pre-publication platform MedRxiv is the largest ever on patients with the Covid-19 coronavirus. This was conducted under the aegis of China's National Health Commission by Dr. Zhong Nan-Shan, in collaboration with 37 researchers. You should know that the analyzes involved approximately 1,100 patients in 31 provinces and 552 hospitals.
According to the results, the median incubation period is 3 days. However, previous estimates mentioned a duration of 5.2 days. However, the crux of this research lies in the conclusion regarding the maximum incubation period, estimated at 24 days . This new data has not yet been verified by other researchers outside the study. However, these results could well call into question certain measures , such as quarantines which are currently set to 14 days.
Chinese researchers raise another important issue, already highlighted in two recent studies. The first had indicated that it had detected the presence of the virus in the feces of 4 patients out of a total of 62. The other study revealed the presence of the virus in 4 other patients in their digestive system, their saliva and their urine.
In other words, there is a very real risk in terms of wastewater. Scientists therefore evoke the evacuation of this water, in particular via the toilets, before landing in the sewers. There is a risk of contamination via a local water source . Additionally, the swirl of toilet water can potentially eject virus particles into the air and cause airborne transmission . It was therefore advisable to keep the toilet lid closed when flushing.
Researchers believe that the presence of the virus in the digestive system says more about its ability to adapt . From now on, the lungs and the respiratory tract are no longer the only organs that can testify to the infection. Finally, the leaders of the study point to a high concentration of the virus in the intestines, given the cases of diarrhea reported in some patients with coronavirus.
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