This is exactly why we need rapid tests and why they must be done frequently.
Viral load is not static.
At any given time, 2% of ppl carry 90% of the viral load. Who those people are changes day to day as the virus grows and falls inside ppl.
1/x
Viral load is not static.
At any given time, 2% of ppl carry 90% of the viral load. Who those people are changes day to day as the virus grows and falls inside ppl.
1/x
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1391849379280023552
This is also why lower analytical sensitivity tests, when performed frequently, are MUCH more sensitive than very high sensitivity tests performed infrequently or w slow return of results
If infectious, you will be detected by rapid Ag tests. And that’s what matters.
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If infectious, you will be detected by rapid Ag tests. And that’s what matters.
2/
But if you aren’t testing frequently, you are VERY likely to miss getting a swab in your nose before or when you are at peak infectivity (bc peak is reached VERY fast and diminishes fast).
So a test that takes a long time to return or is infrequent, simply doesn’t help much.
3/
So a test that takes a long time to return or is infrequent, simply doesn’t help much.
3/
Put another way, most people who are infected will pass through the “super-carrier” state, as @EricTopol called it.
It’s not a characteristic of the person getting infected nearly as much as it is the stage that the virus is at, within each person, at the cross section in time.
It’s not a characteristic of the person getting infected nearly as much as it is the stage that the virus is at, within each person, at the cross section in time.
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