COVID-19′s rapid spread throughout the world has been fueled in part by the virus’ ability to be transmitted by people who are not showing symptoms of infection.
COVID-19′s rapid spread throughout the world has been fueled in part by the virus’ ability to be transmitted by people who are not showing symptoms of infection.
Now, a study by researchers at Princeton has found that this silent phase of transmission can be a successful evolutionary strategy for pathogens such as viruses like the one that causes COVID-19. The study was published May 8 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study examined the pros and cons of silent transmission on the pathogen’s long-term survival. Does transmission without symptoms enable the pathogen to infect greater numbers of people? Or does the lack of symptoms eventually lessen transmission and reduce the pathogen’s long-term survival?
The answer could inform how public health experts plan control measures such as quarantines, testing and contract tracing.
Read more at Princeton University
Image: Researchers at Princeton University looked at the evolutionary strategies that pathogens employ to spread through a population and found that symptomless transmission, a tactic employed by the virus that causes COVID-19, can be a successful strategy for spread through the population. (Credit: Chadi Saad-Roy, Princeton University)
