Experts from Imperial College London summed up the first results of a study conducted with the participation of healthy volunteers who were exposed to infection with a new coronavirus. The results of the study were published by Nature, citing data published on the Research Sduare preprint server..

In total, 36 healthy participants were invited for the study.. This study was the first since the spread of coronavirus infection, which helped to establish the signs and symptoms of the course of COVID-19 since the virus entered the body..

The average age of the participants in the experiment was 18-30 years. All volunteers were not previously infected with this pathogen, nor were they vaccinated against COVID-19. To infect volunteers, experts used nasal drops containing low doses of viral particles obtained from a patient hospitalized at the end of 2019 with the Wuhan coronavirus.. The number of virus particles injected into participants was equal to one drop of nasal fluid containing the virus at the peak of infection..

At the end of the study, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 18 volunteers. Moreover, 16 people suffered from the disease in mild or moderate severity.. Participants reported nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing. In some cases, these symptoms were supplemented by headache and muscle pain, fatigue and fever..

13 participants experienced a loss of smell, but after three months, almost all the ability to distinguish smells was restored. Only three people reported anosmia lasting more than 90 days.

Scientists also reported that no more than 42 hours passed from the moment the virus was introduced into the body until the first symptoms appeared in the participants.. Further, there was a sharp increase in viral load.

The highest rates in this case were found on the 5th day from the moment of infection..

Moreover, the amount of the virus that can cause infection in another person upon contact remained for 9-12 days..

The findings confirm the importance of using personal respiratory protection equipment to reduce infection..

medical-heal. en.