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Has it been shown that #covid19 viral load is strongly correlated with infectiousness or number of others infected?
Clearly this is intuitive, but is it true?
I see this assumed a lot, but can't find good supporting evidence / data
1/4
Clearly this is intuitive, but is it true?
I see this assumed a lot, but can't find good supporting evidence / data
1/4
Here's a review published in August, including citation of a study where
"no live virus was successfully isolated after Day 8 from symptom onset despite ongoing high viral loads"
2/4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7237903/
"no live virus was successfully isolated after Day 8 from symptom onset despite ongoing high viral loads"
2/4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7237903/
I fear that high viral load = infectiousness is falling into a fallacy
Surely social factors - number of contacts and context of contact - are much better predictors of the consequences of infectiousness than viral load
3/4
Surely social factors - number of contacts and context of contact - are much better predictors of the consequences of infectiousness than viral load
3/4
Likewise, are superspreading events driven by people with high viral loads, or are they primarily driven by context?
I suspect the latter - even people with moderate viral loads could infect many others in the right context
Please cite data for or against if you have them
4/4
I suspect the latter - even people with moderate viral loads could infect many others in the right context
Please cite data for or against if you have them
4/4
