Advances on the Asymptomatic Infection of COVID-19 / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 outbreak in China has been gradually controlled. At present, the management and risk assessment of asymptomatic infected cases has become an urgent problem to be addressed. Asymptomatic case is mainly detected by close contact screening, cluster epidemic investigation, infection source tracking investigation, and active detection of target population. Currently, research on the spread risk from asymptomatic cases was limited, and lacking the data relates to the distribution of asymptomatic cases in large community population. Pathogen detection using PCR is suitable for screening in close contacts of confirmed cases and should be started as early as possible. The antibody test is more suitable for screening in general population where the source of infection is unclear. The management of asymptomatic cases now in China focuses on isolation and medical observation according to the guideline of 'early detection, early report, early isolation and early treatment' .