根據美國疾病控制預防中心（CDC）在最近的一項研究調查中發現，美國超過一半的武漢肺炎病毒COVID-19患者，無法確切知道自己接觸了那些已被感染者。
這項調查結果顯示，許多人可能是透過社區傳染，而不是被生活中熟悉的人所感染。
他們認為這“顯示了社區傳播的嚴重性，而且持續在進行中，因此除了必須隔離感染者，以及對被接觸者進行圈定追蹤與檢測之外，相關的預防措施，包括：社交安全距離和使用口罩，所以，除進行測試外，監測染病症狀，以及鼓勵他們隔離14天都是必要的手段”。
這項研究範圍來自對9個州的350名成人的電訪，他們在3月31日至5月10日之間，被檢測出武漢肺炎病毒COVID-19呈陽性，在4月15日至5月24日之間做了訪問。他們有77％在醫院或急診室門診時進行了檢測，其中23％是在住院期間接受檢測。
整體來說，有46％的人在訪談時報告，自己在武漢肺炎病毒COVID-19被測出陽性之前兩週內，與武漢肺炎病毒患者接觸過（在6英尺內）。但也有54％的人不知道自己是否與武漢肺炎病毒感染者接觸過。知道自己被感染者，其對象通常是家庭內其他成員或同事。
這項研究也發現，與未住院的患者相比較，住院的患者其年齡偏大，已有慢性疾病傾向，並且年收入低於25,000美金，而且白人的比例較低。這研究與先前的數據吻合，該研究針對武漢病毒對低收入族群與少數族裔做研究，研究他們是否更容易被感染。
這350名受訪者，其中約三分之二表示自己目前就業中，而有回答遠距辦公這一題的209名受訪者，只有17％表示他們能夠遠距工作。這一發現也顯示：應該要優先加強相關措施來確保工作場所與辦公人員的安全。
SOURCE Live Science
Many Americans with COVID-19 don’t know how they got infected, survey suggests
More than half of surveyed patients couldn’t identify someone with COVID-19 that they had close contact with before getting sick.
Many Americans with COVID-19 can’t pinpoint how they got the infection, a new study suggests.
The study researchers, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that more than half of U.S. patients with COVID-19 in a recent survey couldn’t identify another person with the disease whom they had close contact with before getting sick.
The findings suggest that many people may be getting infected through transmission in their communities and not from a familiar person in their lives, the CDC said. This “underscores the need for isolation of infected persons, contact tracing and testing … and prevention measures, including social distancing and use of cloth face coverings,” while community transmission is ongoing, the authors said. (Contact tracing typically involves identifying people who had contact with a COVID-19 case to notify them of their exposure, referring them for testing, monitoring them for symptoms and encouraging them quarantine for a period of 14 days, according to the CDC.)
The study is based on telephone interviews with 350 adults in nine states who tested positive for COVID-19 between March 31 and May 10, and were interviewed between April 15 and May 24. Of these, 77% were tested in an outpatient setting, such as a doctor’s office or emergency room, while 23% were tested while they were hospitalized.
Overall, 46% reported that in the two weeks prior to their positive COVID-19 test they had close contact (being within 6 feet) with someone who had COVID-19; but 54% were not aware of having close contact with someone with COVID-19. When patients did report a COVID-19 contact, it was usually a family member or coworker.
The study also found that patients who were hospitalized were more likely to be older, have underlying conditions and have an income less than $25,000 a year, and were less likely to be white, than those who were not hospitalized. This finding agrees with previous research suggesting that low-income and minority populations have been hit harder by the virus.
About two-thirds of participants said they were employed, but of the 209 participants who answered questions about telework, only 17% said they were able to telework. This finding highlights “the need for enhanced measures to ensure workplace safety,” the authors said.