The test sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may vary based on the time of the day and the our body’s biological clock, according to a study.
The study, published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms on Tuesday, found that people were over to two times as likely to have an accurate positive test result if they tested in the middle of the day compared to at night.
The finding supports the thesis that coronavirus acts in a different manner in the body based on our natural circadian meter, which has also been indirect by studies of other viral and bacterial infections, the experimenters said.
Circadian meter is our body’s natural, internal process that regulates the sleep – wake cycle and reprises roughly every 24 hours. COVID-19 contagion slipping — when infected cells release contagion patches into the blood and mucus — appears to be more active in the middle of the day due to modulation of the vulnerable system by our natural timepiece, the experimenters said.
“Taking a COVID-19 test at the optimal time of day improves test sensitivity and will help us to be accurate in diagnosing people who may be infected but asymptomatic,” said Carl Johnson, a professor at Vanderbilt University in the US.
According to the experimenters, the results indicate that viral cargo is lower after 8p.m.
Still, there could be a possible chance of a false-negative result, they said, If people choose to get tested at that time.
The study said, a difference in COVID-19 viral sliding throughout the day is important information that may inform how we test for and treat the contagion.
The peak slipping in the autumn, when cases are more likely to interact with others or seek medical care, could play a part in adding the spread of the contagion in hospitals and the wider community, they said.
The experimenters noted that farther exploration is demanded to confirm the quotidian — meaning active during the day — nature of SARS-CoV-2.
Experimentally testing cases who are infected with COVID-19 to see if individualities exfoliate the contagion else throughout the day would have important public health counteraccusations, Johnson said.
The study can be used to optimise COVID-19 testing and better test delicacy, he added.
The researchers believe temporal considerations may be injured to maximise the effectiveness of intervention strategies and indeed vaccine strategies.