歐洲研究人員警告說，癥狀輕微的人會傳播冠狀病毒

歐洲研究人員警告說，癥狀輕微的人會傳播冠狀病毒

People infected with the coronavirus can spread it easily, even if they're not yet experiencing severe symptoms of the disease, according to virologists watching the pandemic unfold in Europe.

據(jù)觀察歐洲流感大流行的病毒學家說，感染了冠狀病毒的人很容易傳播這種病毒，即使他們還沒有出現(xiàn)這種疾病的嚴重癥狀。

"In this infection, we see very high levels of virus in the upper airway, in the nose and throat," says Marion Koopmans, head of the department of virus science at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, who is involved with that nation's public health response to the outbreak.

荷蘭鹿特丹伊拉斯謨醫(yī)學中心的病毒科學部主任馬里恩•庫普曼斯說:“在這次感染中，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)呼吸道上部、鼻腔和咽喉處的病毒含量非常高。”庫普曼斯參與了荷蘭應對此次疫情的公共衛(wèi)生工作。

This emerging picture of the disease may help to explain why the coronavirus appears to be spreading so rapidly. Research from China shows it can take five or even 10 days for the first symptoms to emerge. Those in the very early stages of the disease continue to move through public places, unaware of the potential risk they pose. Even when symptoms start, they can be vague, similar to the cold and flu. Other studies from China show that some may never experience symptoms at all."That makes the policy of case finding and containment very challenging," Koopmans says.

這種新出現(xiàn)的疾病圖像可能有助于解釋為什么冠狀病毒傳播如此迅速。來自中國的研究表明，第一次出現(xiàn)癥狀可能需要5天甚至10天。那些處于該病早期階段的人繼續(xù)在公共場所活動，沒有意識到他們所構(gòu)成的潛在風險。即使癥狀開始出現(xiàn)，也可能很模糊，類似于感冒和流感。來自中國的其他研究表明，一些人可能根本不會出現(xiàn)癥狀。庫普曼斯說:“這使得發(fā)現(xiàn)和遏制病例的政策非常具有挑戰(zhàn)性。”

Koopmans says that the revelation came for her while trying to conduct disease surveillance in the Netherlands. Like many countries, the Netherlands initially screened patients with a history of foreign travel. But when a handful of untraceable cases appeared within the country, her team shifted strategies and began to test health care workers in the hospitals where the cases were reported. They found that many were mildly ill — and already highly infectious.

庫普曼斯說，她是在試圖在荷蘭進行疾病監(jiān)測時得知這一消息的。與許多國家一樣，荷蘭最初對有海外旅行史的患者進行了篩查。但是，當該國出現(xiàn)了少數(shù)無法追蹤的病例時，她的團隊改變了策略，開始對報告病例的醫(yī)院的醫(yī)護人員進行檢測。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多人患有輕微的疾病，但傳染性已經(jīng)很強。

"People can have really mild complaints, just a cough, just a sore throat, and already have a lot of virus [in their system]," she says.

她說:“人們可能會有非常輕微的癥狀，只是咳嗽，只是喉嚨痛，而且(體內(nèi))已經(jīng)有很多病毒了。”

Alfredo Garzino-Demo, a virologist based at the University of Maryland and affiliated with the University of Padua in Italy, says this characteristic, while not uncommon among viruses, makes this disease extremely hard to contain.

阿爾弗雷多·格茲諾·戴蒙是馬里蘭大學的病毒學家，隸屬于意大利帕多瓦大學。他說，這種特性雖然在病毒中并不罕見，但卻使這種疾病極難控制。

"Many diseases have a window period in which you don't have symptoms but you are still able to transmit," he says."But this one is particularly serious."

他說:“許多疾病都有一個窗口期，在這期間你沒有癥狀，但你仍然可以傳播。”“但這一次尤其嚴重。”

The evolving view helps explain why countries are having to resort to such extreme social distancing measures to contain the spread of the disease. It also highlights the need for broad testing of the general population, says Marie-Paule Kieny, director of research at Inserm, a French organization dedicated to the study of public health.

這一不斷演變的觀點有助于解釋，為什么各國必須采取這種極端的社會疏遠措施來遏制這種疾病的蔓延。法國致力于公共衛(wèi)生研究的機構(gòu)Inserm的研究主任瑪麗•保爾•基尼表示，這也凸顯了對普通人群進行廣泛檢測的必要性。

Without broad testing, "we can't look at the community and say what percentage of the people have had contact with the virus," she says. That information is crucial in determining how best to deploy economically crippling social distancing measures.

她說，如果沒有廣泛的檢測，“我們無法觀察社區(qū)，并確定有多少人接觸過這種病毒。”這些信息對于決定如何最好地部署對經(jīng)濟造成嚴重損害的社會疏遠措施至關(guān)重要。

Broad surveillance of the general population will be key to controlling subsequent waves of the disease, she warns, especially as draconian social distancing measures are loosened.

她警告說，對普通人群的廣泛監(jiān)測將是控制后續(xù)疾病蔓延的關(guān)鍵，特別是在嚴厲的社會疏遠措施放松之際。

Despite the deep crisis faced by the world's public health systems, the scientists believe that the pandemic will eventually pass. Health care workers will do their best to handle the surges in illness, scientists will rush toward treatments and vaccines, and governments will try to support those in need.

盡管世界公共衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)面臨嚴重的危機，但科學家們相信，大流行最終會過去。衛(wèi)生保健工作者將盡最大努力應對疾病的激增，科學家將迅速研制治療方法和疫苗，政府將努力支持那些有需要的人。

"There is a lot of generosity. People are really working hard to make this thing go away, doing their part," Garzino-Demo says. "We are going to win this war."

“大家都很慷慨。人們真的很努力地讓這件事過去，盡自己的一份力，” 格茲諾·戴蒙說。“我們將贏得這場戰(zhàn)爭。”