Incubation period of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Busan, South Korea
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Published on: November 10, 2023
Hansol Lee1, Kyungtae Kim1, Kwonkyu Choi1
1Department of Preventive Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
Abstract:
The assessment of the incubation period, which is the period between the infection and the illness onset, is essential to identify the sufficient isolation period for infectious diseases. In South Korea, a few cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were identified after the 14-day self-quarantine program, and the length of this quarantine has raised controversial issues for the Korean public health professionals. We estimated the COVID-19 incubation period using the log-normal distribution from publicly available data. The data were obtained from the press release of the Busan city department of public health and news reports. We collected and analysed information for 47 patients with a median age of 30. We estimated that the median incubation period was three days (95% Confidence Interval, 0.6-8.2). We also did not find any significant difference in the incubation period between males and females. Our findings indicate that a 14-day self-quarantine program should be sufficient to prevent spreading in the infection of suspected individuals with COVID-19 in the community.
Insights
The median incubation period for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was estimated at three days. Current 14-day quarantine guidelines are sufficient to prevent community spread of COVID-19.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Infectious Disease Control
Background:
- Assessing incubation periods is crucial for determining effective isolation durations for infectious diseases.
- The 14-day self-quarantine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea has been debated due to some post-quarantine cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the incubation period of COVID-19.
- To evaluate the adequacy of the 14-day quarantine period for COVID-19.
Main Methods:
- Utilized log-normal distribution analysis.
- Analyzed publicly available data from Busan city public health press releases and news reports.
- Included data from 47 patients.
Main Results:
- The estimated median incubation period for COVID-19 was three days (95% Confidence Interval: 0.6-8.2 days).
- No significant difference in incubation periods was observed between males and females.
- The findings support the sufficiency of the 14-day quarantine.
Conclusions:
- A 14-day self-quarantine period is likely sufficient to prevent the community spread of COVID-19.
- Public health strategies can be informed by these incubation period estimates.
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