Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
The polymerase chain reaction assay for SARS-CoV-2 is highly specific; probably of the order of 99.9%. But it would need to be 99.9999% specific to identify 300 positives from a population of 10,000,000. The majority of the 300 positives are likely to be false positives and it is not surprising that they are asymptomatic and incapable of passing on their non-existent infection.
In the past many of the declarations by Scientific and Medical communities turned out to be false prophecies. Pandemic potential of CoVID-19, airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2, usefulness of masks, lack of effectiveness of certain medicines in treating CoVID-19 were all missed by the know-all people.
It will be fortunate if asymptomatic CoVID-19 Cases are not infectious. But if in reality the asymptomatic CoVID-19 Cases are Infectious and they are presumed and declared to be non-infectious, then the damage that will result will be immense.
To err on safe side, it may be wise to presume that asymptomatic cases are also infectious.
Arvind Joshi MBBS MD FCGP FAMS FICP.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
02 December 2020
Arvind Joshi
Founder Convener and President Our Own Discussion Group, Mumbai PIN 400028 and Consultant Physician at Ruchi Diagnostic Center and Ruchi Clinical Laboratory Kharghar PIN 410210.
Our Own Discussion Group, Mumbai PIN 400028; Consultant Physician at Ruchi Diagnostic Center and Ruchi Clinical Laboratory Kharghar PIN 410210; Maharashtra State INDIA.
Mumbai PIN 400028 & Kharghar PIN 410210; Maharashtra State INDIA.
Asymptomatic covid may not be infectious, Wuhan study claims: but what about specificity?
Dear Editor,
The polymerase chain reaction assay for SARS-CoV-2 is highly specific; probably of the order of 99.9%. But it would need to be 99.9999% specific to identify 300 positives from a population of 10,000,000. The majority of the 300 positives are likely to be false positives and it is not surprising that they are asymptomatic and incapable of passing on their non-existent infection.
Competing interests: No competing interests