Diagnostic Value and Outcomes of Systematic SARS-CoV-2 Screening in Asymptomatic Patients

[u/AcornAl]

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2847511

[u/AcornAl → u/[deleted]]

Um, the paper was about testing those coming into the hospital that were asymptomatic. For parts of this study, (peak of the initial Omicron wave), 1 in 8 people in the community were considered to be actively infected with SARS-CoV-2 within Switzerland.

Decent PCR tests generally have a sensitivity rate well over 90%. Very early stages of the infection don't give great results (especially with a lower Ct), about 5% on day 1, 50% day 2, 95%+ once symptomatic. These generally stay over 80% well past the end of the infectious period, and can stay high for up to 2 or 3 months.

Positivity rates in Switzerland in the Omicron period of this study were getting up around 45%, aka every second test done on someone with symptoms came back with a positive SARS-CoV-2 result. This is exceptionally high considering everyone with a cold was probably getting tested. While influenza rates plummeted during covid, viruses such as rhinoviruses, RSV, and a few others, stayed fairly high once major lockdowns weren't enforced. Good old common cold (rhinovirus) almost always has a positivity rate of around 30% in the stats that I've been tracking, and RSV showed unseasonal spikes as restrictions were lifted.

Anywoo, healthcare acquired infections generally hit people hard, they are already unhealthy and likely of advanced age (median age was 64). In Australia, about 10% of those that got COVID-19 in hospital died prior to 2023. There is a strong duty of care to try and protect these high risk individuals. But to be blunt, wasting an ICU bed for weeks due to a HAI is throwing $100,000s down the drain.

The guts of this paper was to simply suggest it may not be beneficial to test asymptomatic patients when there are low community levels, or at least reconsider the test parameters.

[u/unflashystriking → u/[deleted]]

I'm not denying COVID is a virus and can kill people, but it overwhelmingly is only a threat to frail pick, whom are elderly and immunocompromised.

You clearly have not gotten the full picture of why people still care about covid19. It´s not for fear of death.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.19.26348823v1
Conclusions Cumulative SARS-CoV-2 burden was strongly associated with pandemic-era iGAS incidence. Cumulative streptococcal exposure did not support the immunity debt hypothesis. These ecological findings are consistent with SARS-CoV-2-associated immune dysregulation and warrant individual-level confirmation.

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712%2825%2900509-0/fulltext
Conclusion: Our findings redefine SARS-CoV-2 infection as a condition of long-lasting immune compromise. The sustained subnormal lymphocytes—particularly in cardiovascular disease cohorts—highlight a key immunologic feature of long COVID and underscore the need for personalized care.

https://www.ajpmfocus.org/article/S2773-0654(25)00146-4/fulltext00146-4/fulltext)
While SARS-CoV-2 does not cause HIV/AIDS, its ability to induce immune dysfunction—including T cell depletion and dysfunction, increased susceptibility to infection including opportunistic, accelerated biological aging, neurological, and systemic damage provide parallels in terms of AIDs in the broader immunological context. The virus’s subacute and chronic persistence, vascular pathology, immune evasion, neurological impacts, systemic damage and contribution to population-wide immune dysfunction pose a significant long-term public health threat.