With the rapid expansion of the emerging corona virus, the concept of a "super transmission", that is, the patient who transmits the virus to tens or hundreds of people, is a topic of discussion, at a time when the epidemic is still somewhat vague to doctors, with difficulty understanding all the factors that lead to transmission .
The concept of a "super transmission" did not arise with the "Covid-19", but was also used in the spread of the SARS epidemic (2002-2003) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (since 2012), also belonging to the family of the emerging corona virus. The term was used more than once when talking about the current epidemic, which started from China and spread throughout the world.
Amish Adalja, a physician who specializes in emerging infectious diseases and preparedness for global epidemics, told AFP that the expression "is not medical," but rather to describe "a person who transmits the infection to a relatively large number of people."
Since the emergence of the new virus, in late December, at least two people have been called in the media to describe "the super carrier of infection" or "super publisher" for it, and have transmitted the infection to a number of people above the rate that is usually between two and three, due to the absence of measures Prevention, such as isolation and limitation of presence in clusters and others.
This applies to British businessman, Steve Walsh, who returned from Singapore, and was a source of infection for dozens of people in February, including five in France. The man, who has since recovered and has been dubbed "the super-publisher of the infection" by British popular newspapers, has also transmitted the disease to five people after returning to England.
In South Korea, the title was given to a sixty woman named "Patient 31", who is suspected of transmitting the infection to dozens of people, especially during a religious gathering in February. The head of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Petit Salpetier University Hospital in Paris, Professor Eric Com, confirmed last Thursday evening to the LCI channel that "the presence of those we call the super-carriers of the infection is possible, and that means the patients who transmit the infection are not two and three ... But for dozens, "he added," The problem is our inability to identify them. "
While the head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Avicenna Hospital in Bobigny, Professor Olivier Bouchon says: "It seems that some patients, without this being linked to the strength of the symptoms, secrete the virus more than others and thus transmit it more than others."
He adds, "This is not a hypothesis at present, and we certainly do not have a clear explanation at this stage, and it is not a characteristic of the (Covid-19) virus alone." This ambiguity surrounding the concept specialized in infectious diseases at the University of Exeter, Medical College, Dr. Bharat Phankhania, led to the statement that "the super carrier of infection does not exist."
He considered that this term is "inappropriate", adding, "What we have seen is that the conditions have led to the transmission of infection to more people," speaking in this context of the "patient 31" condition in South Korea.
He explains that the infection is transmitted "often between the crowds, in closed places where there is no ventilation, or due to the lack of recognition of an injury, and often through a person at the beginning of his illness, when the secretions associated with the disease are at its maximum."
In South Korea, the title was given to a sixty so-called “sick 31”.
The term can be used to describe a person who transmits infection to a relatively large number.