German study on coronavirus carrier with ‘no symptoms’ was flawed

Four people fell ill after Chinese businesswoman visited company near Munich but researchers didn’t talk to her directly, Science magazine says

Other patients said ‘she had been well’ at the time – but that wasn’t the case

Reading Time:2 minutes

The deadly new coronavirus has been rapidly spreading since the outbreak began in central China in December. Photo: DPA

Published: 3:07pm, 5 Feb 2020Updated: 6:03pm, 14 Feb 2020

A Germany study that suggested people without symptoms can transmit the new coronavirus, based on the case of a Chinese businesswoman who visited Munich last month, was flawed, according to Science magazine.

The woman had been feeling ill when she was in Germany, but researchers did not speak to her, it said. They had instead relied on second-hand sources to reach the conclusion that she was an asymptomatic patient in their paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine on January 30.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German government’s public health agency, told Science it had submitted a letter to the journal and the World Health Organisation to clarify the matter.

The study was based on a cluster of infections in Germany – the first four cases of the new virus strain there – that emerged after the Shanghai woman visited a company near Munich on January 20 and 21, where she met business partners.

During her stay, “she felt tired, suffered from muscle pain, and took paracetamol, a fever-lowering medication”, according to Science, citing sources familiar with a later phone call between the RKI, the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, and the woman.

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