Spin-off - What does asymptomatic mean?

[Kestrel]

Can anyone explain what "asymptomatic carrier" means, exactly?

I'm hearing it more and more. I understand it means this person tests positive, right? Are they contagious? If contagious, for how long? Do they just keep on spreading virus indefinitely?

We mostly hear of children being asymptomatic carriers, can teens/adults be ones, too?

Since we don't have a treatment/cure, are those that are asymptomatic carriers stuck in quarantine forever or what?

If any of you medical folks could comment, I would be grateful!

[TwinFoxes]

It means someone who has a disease but doesn't show symptoms.

[mommy111]

Can they transmit: yes
Do they transmit more than symptomatic people: we don’t know
What happens to them: they either become symptomatic or they fight off the virus and never become symptomatic and will eventually test negative
Can they test positive for long: potentially, I guess. My understanding is that most will eventually test negative but I think this is one of the unknowns. I think after a certain amount of time it’s thought risk of transmission is very low

[dogmom]

Can they transmit: yes
Do they transmit more than symptomatic people: we don’t know
What happens to them: they either become symptomatic or they fight off the virus and never become symptomatic and will eventually test negative
Can they test positive for long: potentially, I guess. My understanding is that most will eventually test negative but I think this is one of the unknowns. I think after a certain amount of time it’s thought risk of transmission is very low

The only thing I would add is there is truly asymptomatic they will NEVER show symptoms of the disease and unless they get tested you will never know. There is also PRE-symptomatic, when you have the virus and you do not show symptoms. The usually time between exposure and symptoms is 5 days. It can go out 10, which is why 14 days is quarantine. It is unclear if asymptomatic people have a high risk of transmitting the disease, it appears thy don’t. However, pre-symptomatic definitely can spread the disease. In fact some of the high profile outbreaks, like the Biogen Conference in Massachusetts, were due to a pre-symptomatic or early symptoms people that had a high spread. That does not mean they will get very sick, however. A nurse I work with was cooking lobster for her family and everyone was commenting on the smell, except her son, who smelled nothing and he got tested. He was positive, but that was the only symptom. No one else in the family was positive. He would have been symptomatic because he loss his sense of smell.

I think the take home is people can easily not know they have Covid. It is also helpful to remember when things like the study came out that showed a very low rate of transmission among asymptotic people. That would not include my colleague child or the Biogen patient zero. Someone might have mild symptoms and never know they were sick. Then there is the how the heck are we going to know when kids start getting sick with the usually colds? I’ve got a colleague out of work for TWO weeks because she has a persistent, dry cough. She has tested negative more than once, but they will not clear her to go back to work. Will every kid with a scratchy throat not be able to go to school? Will parents convince themselves is a cold or allergies? Who knows. Although bonus, is bet the cold/GI bug/random virus/flu transmission goes down in school due to Covid precautions.

[Globetrotter]

I found this helpful.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/short-wave/id1482575855#episodeGuid=7c8ccaee-9d4d-4412-9a67-46c1c145484f

[Kestrel]

Thanks everyone for the clarification. This is the situation: My niece (adult) works in billing at a medical center. A co-worker tested positive with no symptoms at all, and has been told that they have to stay home until they test negative. The co-worker gets tested every week (test is free), but is on UNpaid leave until testing negative. It's been nearly five weeks of this person stuck at home with no job/income. I didn't realize that the virus could hold on this long with someone with no symptoms, but the chances of four positive tests being wrong is slim.

Niece is a single mom, and terrified to getting tested again.

[Melaine]

Thanks everyone for the clarification. This is the situation: My niece (adult) works in billing at a medical center. A co-worker tested positive with no symptoms at all, and has been told that they have to stay home until they test negative. The co-worker gets tested every week (test is free), but is on UNpaid leave until testing negative. It's been nearly five weeks of this person stuck at home with no job/income. I didn't realize that the virus could hold on this long with someone with no symptoms, but the chances of four positive tests being wrong is slim.

Niece is a single mom, and terrified to getting tested again.

Wow. Another difficult Covid scenario. Too bad they cannot work from home. That is so stressful.

[bisous]

Thanks everyone for the clarification. This is the situation: My niece (adult) works in billing at a medical center. A co-worker tested positive with no symptoms at all, and has been told that they have to stay home until they test negative. The co-worker gets tested every week (test is free), but is on UNpaid leave until testing negative. It's been nearly five weeks of this person stuck at home with no job/income. I didn't realize that the virus could hold on this long with someone with no symptoms, but the chances of four positive tests being wrong is slim.

Niece is a single mom, and terrified to getting tested again.

Wow, this is crazy!

[Globetrotter]

Wow, I hope that’s not standard for asymptomatic folks. We really need more information. Asymptomatic seems to be different from pre-symptomatic, but how do you know in advance what’s what? It’s terrible if you lose work because of it.

[bisous]

Wow, I hope that’s not standard for asymptomatic folks. We really need more information. Asymptomatic seems to be different from pre-symptomatic, but how do you know in advance what’s what? It’s terrible if you lose work because of it.

But this isn't the first I've heard about it. I do think we need to get a grasp about how long a person can remain infectious and so far as I can tell this isn't known yet!