J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020 Aug 27:jech-2020-214635. doi: 10.1136/jech-2020-214635. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The presymptomatic transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been documented in limited clusters, and it is predicted through modelling. However, there is a lack of evidence from observations with a large sample size.
METHODS: We used data from meticulous contact tracing of people exposed to cases of SARS-CoV-2 to estimate the proportion of cases that result from the presymptomatic transmission of the virus in Beijing during January 2020 and February 2020.
RESULTS: The results showed that presymptomatic transmission occurred in at least 15% of 100 secondary COVID-19 cases. The earliest presymptomatic contact event occurred 5 days prior to the index case's onset of symptoms, and this occurred in two clusters.
CONCLUSIONS: The finding suggested that the contact tracing period should be earlier and highlighted the importance of preventing transmission opportunities well before the onset of symptoms.
PMID:32855261 | DOI:10.1136/jech-2020-214635