Does someone at home have covid-19? Then, there’s a 50% chance you’ll get it too

With studies constantly talking about how the risk of covid-19 is highest in  indoor places, we now know the importance of social distancing and good ventilation—even at home. And now, a paper by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that people who develop covid-19 infect around half of their household members.

Yes, if someone in your home has covid-19, you are 50% likely to get it too.

The paper by the CDC is the latest to attempt to quantify the household transmission rate of the disease, with previous research varying widely but generally suggesting that adults are bigger drivers than children.

This is what the CDC study found

The new research by the CDC involved finding cases of “index” or initial patients with lab-confirmed coronavirus infection in Nashville, Tennessee, and Marshfield, Wisconsin, starting in April 2020.

Both the index patients and their household members were trained remotely to complete symptom diaries and obtain self-collected specimens, which were either nasal swabs only or nasal swabs and saliva samples, for 14 days.

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A total of 191 enrolled household contacts of 101 index patients reported having no symptoms on the day of their index patient’s illness onset.

In the follow-up period, 102 of the 191 contacts had SARS-CoV-2 positive tests, for a “secondary infection rate” of 53%.

The secondary infection rate when index patients were over 18 was 57%, which fell to 43% when the index patient was under 18.

Overall there were far fewer children index patients than there were adults: 20 compared to 82, which makes it harder to generalize the results for under-18s. In terms of household characteristics, the median number of members per bedroom was one, 69% of index patients reported spending four or more hours in the same room with one or more household members the day before, and 40% the day after illness onset.

Forty per cent of index patients reported sleeping in the same room with one or more household members before illness onset and 30% after illness onset.

Secondary infection rates are higher than previously reported

Interpreting the findings, the authors of the paper wrote: “In this ongoing prospective study that includes systematic and daily follow-up, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among household members was common, and secondary infection rates were higher than have been previously reported.”

“Substantial transmission occurred whether the index patient was an adult or a child,” they added.

Another important finding of the study was that fewer than half of household members with confirmed infections reported symptoms at the time infection was first detected, and many reported no symptoms throughout seven days of follow-up.

This underscores the potential for transmission for asymptomatic secondary contacts.

Even if you just suspect covid-19, here’s what you must do

It recommended that people who think they might have covid-19 should isolate themselves from others in their household, including sleeping separately and using a separate bathroom if possible, and wearing a mask.

People who have been potentially exposed to the virus should not delay isolating until their infection is confirmed by a test.