Studies in publication show that one in 4 Omicron patients remains contagious for at least 8 days. This was reported by an online research published in Nature. A series of studies confirm that many people with Covid remain contagious well beyond the second week of the onset of symptoms. “The data on the duration of the infection have not changed,” says Amy Barczak, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, adds: “There is no data to support five days or anything shorter than ten days. of isolation “.
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Research by Barczak herself, forthcoming, suggests that a quarter of people who have contracted the Omicron variant may still be contagious after eight days.. «Although it is not easy to know how long a person with Covid remains contagious»says Benjamin Meyer, a virologist at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
According to Meyer, emerging variants, vaccinations, and varying levels of natural immunity brought about by a previous infection can change the length of time a person remains contagious. One aspect that most scientists agree on, we read in Nature, is that molecular swabs can give a positive result even when a person is no longer contagious.
This probably happens when tests detect non-infectious viral residues. «Rapid antigenic tests on this front are more reliable if you want to be sure you are no longer contagious»says Emily Bruce, a microbiologist and molecular geneticist at the University of Vermont at Burlington.
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