According to a groundbreaking UK study released on Wednesday, the virus spreads through the body faster than previously thought. The average time between being exposed to the virus and discovering it was 42 hours, according to the results of the world’s first ‘human challenge’ study, in which healthy young adults were deliberately infected with the virus.
In a landmark trial where healthy participants were given a dosage of the virus, it was found that one nasal droplet was sufficient to cause infection with COVID-19. This is much less than the official government guidance estimate of a five to six-day ‘incubation period’.
Researchers discovered that the majority of infected individuals experience symptoms within two days of coming into contact with the virus. They are most infectious five days later, the first study of its kind to track patients through an infection.
The research was performed on a virus strain that existed before the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron versions. Researchers describe the outcomes of 36 healthy young people without immunity to the virus, whose pre-prints appeared on Springer Nature’s pre-print service but have not yet been peer-reviewed. The volunteers were closely monitored at the Royal Free Hospital in London’s specialty section and displayed no signs of illness.
According to the study, the infection begins in the throat and peaks about five days after infection, when the viral load in the nose is significantly higher than that in the throat. In addition, the study concluded that lateral flow tests are a reliable indicator of the presence of infectious viruses. Swabbing the nose and throat makes it easier to diagnose infections during the first few days, according to the study.
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