Reducing risks from coronavirus transmission in the home—the role of viral load
Reducing risks from coronavirus transmission in the home—the role of viral load
Paul Little and colleagues call for better promotion of simple measures that can help reduce the spread and severity of infection among those living with people who have covid-19.
Most people with covid-19 are cared for at home, increasing the likely exposure of household members. Although the evidence is limited, high infection rates among health workers have been attributed to more frequent contact with infected patients, and higher viral load —the size of the infecting dose of virus. This has led to demands for better personal protection equipment (PPE). Less attention, however, has been given to family members and others caring for people with covid-19 in the community. Providing them with the same level of PPE as in hospitals is not practicable, but promotion of simple evidence based interventions may lower the risk of infection transmission and help reduce morbidity and demand on hospitals.
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Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
6 May 2020
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Little, Paul and Yardley, Lucy
(2020)
Reducing risks from coronavirus transmission in the home—the role of viral load.
BMJ, 369, , [m1728].
(doi:10.1136/bmj.m1728).
Abstract
Paul Little and colleagues call for better promotion of simple measures that can help reduce the spread and severity of infection among those living with people who have covid-19.
Most people with covid-19 are cared for at home, increasing the likely exposure of household members. Although the evidence is limited, high infection rates among health workers have been attributed to more frequent contact with infected patients, and higher viral load —the size of the infecting dose of virus. This has led to demands for better personal protection equipment (PPE). Less attention, however, has been given to family members and others caring for people with covid-19 in the community. Providing them with the same level of PPE as in hospitals is not practicable, but promotion of simple evidence based interventions may lower the risk of infection transmission and help reduce morbidity and demand on hospitals.
Text
BMJ Analysis Revised Reducing risk to coronavirus carers
- Accepted Manuscript
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Published date: 6 May 2020
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 440817
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/440817
ISSN: 0959-8138
PURE UUID: 35bce887-96ec-4ff6-bb56-7d9fbf581abb
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Date deposited: 19 May 2020 17:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:47
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