SynthesisLa Medicina del lavoro2022
Duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding and infectivity in the working age population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in La Medicina del lavoro, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autoantibodies as potential prognostic factors for clinical outcomes related to COVID-19: a systematic review of inception prospective cohort studies with GRADE recommendations.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2025Pooled it
- Virologic insights from the phase 3 REDPINE trial: remdesivir in renally impaired and immunocompromised patients with COVID-19.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026Trial
- Molecular Characterization of Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Immunocompromised Patients.Viruses · 2026Article
- Management of SARS-CoV-2 Infection-Clinical Practice Guidelines of the Polish Association of Epidemiologists and Infectiologists, for 2025.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Association of disability with COVID-19 outcomes in older adults: a prospective analysis of the US health and retirement study.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- COVID-19 Marked a Change in the Scope of Occupational Medicine from Occupational to Work-Related Diseases and Total Worker Health®.La Medicina del lavoro · 2023Article
- Learning from the Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Paradigm for Occupational Biohazard Assessment and Management.La Medicina del lavoro · 2023Article
- The immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination in participants with underlying comorbidity diseases: A prospective cohort study.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- The effect of variation of individual infectiousness on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in households.eLife · 2023Article
- Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infection, EBV, HHV-6 and Other Factors May Contribute to Inflammation and Autoimmunity in Long COVID.Viruses · 2023Review
- Seroprevalence Of SARS-COV-2 infection in asymptomatic indigenous from the largest Brazilian periurban area.PloS one · 2023Article
- Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems - United States, August 2022.MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, working age individuals have been implicated in sustaining the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, and multiple outbreaks have been observed in several occupational settings. In this regard, Occupational Physicians play a crucial role in the management of infected workers, particularly in the safe return-to-work of subjects after clinical resolution. To this end, knowledge of the duration of the infective phase in the working age population is essential, taking into account previous evidence suggesting that PCR positivity does not coincide with virus viability.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis, searching major scientific databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science, were performed in order to synthesize the available evidence regarding the mean and maximal duration of infectivity compared to the mean and maximal duration of viral RNA shedding. A subgroup analysis of the studies was performed according to the immunocompetent or immunocompromised immune status of the majority of the enrolled individuals.
resultsTwenty studies were included in the final qualitative and quantitative analysis (866 individuals). Overall, a mean duration of RT-PCR positivity after symptom onset was found equal to 27.9 days (95%CI 23.3-32.5), while the mean duration of replicant competent virus isolation was 7.3 days (95%CI 5.7-8.8). The mean duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding resulted equal to 26.5 days (95%CI 21.4-31.6) and 36.3 days (95%CI 21.9-50.6), and the mean duration of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity was 6.3 days (95%CI 4.9-7.8) and 29.5 days (95%CI 12.5-46.5), respectively considering immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. The maximum duration of infectivity among immunocompetent subjects was reported after 18 days from symptom onset, while in immunocompromised individuals it lasted up to 112 days.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that the test-based strategy before return-to-work might not be warranted after 21 days among immunocompetent working age individuals, and could keep many workers out of occupation, reducing their livelihood and productivity.
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