The relative infectiousness of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected persons compared with symptomatic individuals: A rapid scoping review

Objectives

The aim of this study was to conduct a scoping review of estimates of the relative infectiousness of asymptomatic persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 compared with symptomatic individuals.

Design

Rapid scoping review of literature available until 8 ^th April 2020.

Setting

International studies on the infectiousness of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2

Participants

Studies were selected for inclusion if they defined asymptomatics as a separate cohort distinct from pre-symptomatics and if they provided a quantitative measure of the infectiousness of asymptomatics relative to symptomatics.

Primary outcome measures

The relative number of secondary cases produced by an average primary case, the relative probability of transmitting infection upon contact, and the degree of viral shedding.

Results

Very few studies reported estimates of relative infectiousness of asymptomatic compared with symptomatic individuals. Significant differences exist in the definition of infectiousness. Viral shedding studies in general show no difference in shedding levels between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals but are likely to be impacted by insufficient statistical power. Two contact tracing studies provided estimates of 0.7 and 1.0, but differences in approach and definition preclude comparison across the two studies. Finally, two modelling studies suggest a relative infectiousness of around 0.5 but one of these was more reflective of the infectiousness of undocumented rather than asymptomatic cases. Importantly, one contact tracing study showing a very low level of infectiousness of asymptomatic was not included in the analysis at this point due difficulties interpreting the reported findings.

Conclusions

The present study highlights the need for additional studies in this area as a matter of urgency. For the purpose of epidemiological modelling, we cautiously suggest that at present, asymptomatics could be considered to have a degree of infectiousness which is about 0.40-0.70 that of symptomatics. However, it must be stressed that this suggestion comes from a very low evidence base and that estimates exist that are close to zero and close to 1.

ARTICLE SUMMARY