A recent study found the period during which the emerging corona virus, which causes Covid-19 disease, remains present in various body fluids and secretions and feces, and the period during which the virus is viable, so what is it?

The study was conducted by researchers including Dr. Moog Civic, at the College of Medicine, University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom.

And Matthew Tate of Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, UK.

It was published in the lancet microbe.

The data review included 79 studies on the emerging corona virus.

Scientists have studied the "viral shedding" of the emerging corona virus - its scientific name is SARS-CoV-2 - and viral dispersal is the process of the virus reproducing inside the body and then launching it into the surrounding environment.

The researchers also studied the period during which this virus was "viable".

And the period during which its remnants are present;

Any genetic material for it is present, but it is not alive and does not cause infection.

The researchers found that the average duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding was:

  • 17 days in the "upper respiratory tract" and its secretions like mucus.

  • 14.6 days in the "lower respiratory tract" and secretions such as sputum.

  • 17.2 days in stool.

  • 16.6 days in serum samples.

The upper respiratory system includes the nose, throat and larynx, while the lower respiratory system consists of the trachea, bronchi, and lungs.

As for the "Maximum shedding duration" - the presence of the virus's genetic material in the samples - it was:

  •  83 days in the upper respiratory tract.

  • 59 days in the lower respiratory tract.

  • 126 days in stool.

  • 60 days in serum.

No study reviewed by researchers discovered the presence of a "live virus" after the ninth day of illness, despite the persistence of high viral loads.

Most studies showed the virus clearing faster in asymptomatic individuals, indicating a shorter infectious period.

But with a similar potential transmission potential at the start of infection.

High levels of the emerging coronavirus were detected early in the course of the disease, with an early peak observed in the time symptoms appear until the fifth day of the disease.

The following diagram shows 9 of the most prominent symptoms of Corona virus, and to find out a detailed list of symptoms of Corona infection, click on this link.

The viable virus is short-lived

The researchers said, "Our study shows that despite the evidence of continued scattering of the RNA of the emerging corona virus for long periods of time in respiratory and fecal samples, it appears that the viable virus is short-lived, so detection of RNA cannot be used to infer infection."

Coronavirus levels in the upper part of the respiratory system reach their peak in the first week of illness.

"Our study shows that isolation practices should start with the onset of the first symptoms, which can include mild and atypical symptoms, preceding typical symptoms of Covid-19 such as coughing and fever. However, given the potential delays in isolating patients, it may not be a strategy," the researchers added. Early detection and isolation are completely effective in containing the emerging corona virus. "