WHO expert cites 'misunderstanding' after saying asymptomatic transmission 'very rare' - ABC News

A top World Health Organization expert has tried to clear up "misunderstandings" about comments she made that have been widely understood to suggest people without COVID-19 symptoms rarely transmit the coronavirus.

Key points:

• The WHO has long said most transmission is by people who show symptoms
• Ms Van Kerkhove cited "some estimates" that found between 6 and 40 per cent of transmissions may be due to asymptomatic infections
• The WHO has changed its mask advice, and now recommends people wear fabric masks

Maria Van Kerkhove, the UN health agency's technical lead on the virus pandemic, insisted on Tuesday she was referring only to a few studies, not a complete picture, in the comments she made on Monday.

Those comments triggered confusion and questions among outside experts and health officials who, among other things, have been advising or even requiring healthy people to wear masks to try to prevent spreading the virus.

The "clarification" at a WHO social media chat showed many questions remained about whether infected people who don't show symptoms like high fever, dry cough or difficulty breathing might transmit the virus to others.

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For months, the WHO has long said most transmission is by people who show symptoms.

Many experts and health officials have been advising healthy people to wear masks to try to prevent spreading the virus.(AP: Anjum Naveed)

Dr Van Kerkhove cited "some estimates" that found between 6 and 40 per cent of the population of transmission may be due to asymptomatic transmission.

"I used the phrase 'very rare' and I think that it's a misunderstanding to state the asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare," Ms Van Kerkhove said.

"What I was referring to was a subset of studies. I was also referring to some data that isn't published."

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Ms Van Kerkhove said the "two or three studies" she was referring to "actually try to follow asymptomatic cases".

"I think what's important related to transmission is what we know, importantly what we don't know and what we're trying to do to really understand this very complex question," she said.

COVID-19 can cause more severe illness, especially among the elderly.(Reuters: Flavio Lo Scalzo)

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

The vast majority of people recover.

The details on how well the coronavirus spreads in different circumstances is not well understood, and is still being studied.

On Friday, the WHO changed its mask advice, recommending that people wear fabric masks if they could not maintain social distancing.(Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

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On Friday, the WHO changed its mask advice, recommending people wear fabric masks if they could not maintain social distancing, if they were over age 60 or had underlying medical conditions.

Part of the reasoning, WHO officials said, was to account for the possibility that transmission could occur from people who had the disease but weren't yet symptomatic.

ABC/wires

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTEwL3doby1leHBlcnQtYmFja3RyYWNrcy1hc3ltcHRvbWF0aWMtdHJhbnNtaXNzaW9uLXZlcnktcmFyZS8xMjMzODY2ONIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjMzODY2OA?oc=5

2020-06-10 02:35:14Z
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