Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33915459›Full record

ReviewPublic health2021

In pursuit of the right tail for the COVID-19 incubation period.

Nevio Cimolai

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Nevio CimolaiFaculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Canada; Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, B.C, V6H3V4, Canada. Electronic address: ncimolai@mail.ubc.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Definition of the incubation period for COVID-19 is critical for implementing quarantine and thus infection control. Whereas the classical definition relies on the time from exposure to time of first symptoms, a more practical working definition is the time from exposure to time of first live virus excretion. For COVID-19, average incubation period times commonly span 5-7 days which are generally longer than for most typical other respiratory viruses. There is considerable variability reported however for the late right-hand statistical distribution. A small but yet epidemiologically important subset of patients may have the late end of the incubation period extend beyond the 14 days that is frequently assumed. Conservative assumptions of the right tail end distribution favor safety, but pragmatic working modifications may be required to accommodate high rates of infection and/or healthcare worker exposures. Despite the advent of effective vaccines, further attention and study in these regards are warranted. It is predictable that vaccine application will be associated with continued confusion over protection and its longevity. Measures for the application of infectivity will continue to be extremely relevant.

Indexed as

Infectious Disease Incubation PeriodAdultChildCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesHealth PersonnelHumansInfection ControlModels, StatisticalPublic HealthQuarantineSARS-CoV-2COVID-19 VaccinesCoronavirusCOVID-19Incubation periodQuarantineTransmission

Identifiers

PMID33915459
PMCPMC7997403

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.