Yang Qing, Saldi Tassa K, Lasda Erika, Decker Carolyn J, Paige Camille L, Muhlrad Denise, Gonzales Patrick K, Fink Morgan R, Tat Kimngan L, Hager Cole R, Davis Jack C, Ozeroff Christopher D, Meyerson Nicholas R, Clark Stephen K, Fattor Will T, Gilchrist Alison R, Barbachano-Guerrero Arturo, Worden-Sapper Emma R, Wu Sharon S, Brisson Gloria R, McQueen Matthew B, Dowell Robin D, Leinwand Leslie, Parker Roy, Sawyer Sara L
BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80303, USA.
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80303, USA.
medRxiv. 2021 Mar 5:2021.03.01.21252250. doi: 10.1101/2021.03.01.21252250.
We analyze data from the Fall 2020 pandemic response efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder (USA), where more than 72,500 saliva samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using quantitative RT-PCR. All samples were collected from individuals who reported no symptoms associated with COVID-19 on the day of collection. From these, 1,405 positive cases were identified. The distribution of viral loads within these asymptomatic individuals was indistinguishable from what has been previously reported in symptomatic individuals. Regardless of symptomatic status, approximately 50% of individuals who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 seem to be in non-infectious phases of the disease, based on having low viral loads in a range from which live virus has rarely been isolated. We find that, at any given time, just 2% of individuals carry 90% of the virions circulating within communities, serving as viral "super-carriers" and possibly also super-spreaders.
我们分析了美国科罗拉多大学博尔德分校2020年秋季应对疫情期间的数据，当时使用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应对超过72,500份唾液样本进行了新冠病毒检测。所有样本均采集自采集当天报告无新冠相关症状的个体。从中识别出1405例阳性病例。这些无症状个体体内病毒载量的分布与先前有症状个体的报告情况并无差异。无论症状状态如何，基于新冠病毒检测呈阳性的个体中约50%似乎处于疾病的非感染阶段，因为其病毒载量较低，在此范围内很少分离出活病毒。我们发现，在任何给定时间，仅2%的个体携带了社区内传播的90%的病毒粒子，这些个体充当了病毒“超级携带者”，也可能是超级传播者。
