The SARS-CoV-2 transmission riddle - Part 1

By our reckoning, 6.6 billion SARs-CoV-2 tests have been done worldwide. Such use, on an industrial scale, is unprecedented and helped distort perceptions.

Fascinated by the explosive nature of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Lombardy and nearby Veneto in the late winter of 2020, we discussed what circumstances favour the rapid spread of an agent. 

At the time, we did not realise that “cases” were defined as PCR positivity alone without any reference to viral load or the properties of the test. Therefore, we asked those responsible for pandemic management in Lombardy to test for the presence of other agents, which could partly explain the spread and seeming lethality of SARS-CoV-2. But unfortunately, because of political interference, our requests fell on deaf ears; we will probably never know what else was circulating at the time. 

The unfolding narrative reports a sharp decline of other viral pathogens once SARS-CoV-2 started doing the rounds. Several other countries reported the crash in other respiratory agents. Scientific America considered Flu Has Disappeared for More Than a Year.