We analyze data from the fall 2020 pandemic response efforts at the University of Colorado Boulder, where more than 72,500 saliva samples were tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using qRT-PCR. All samples were collected from individuals who reported no symptoms associated with COVID-19 on the day of collection. From these, 1,405 positive cases were identified. The distribution of viral loads within these asymptomatic individuals was indistinguishable from what has been previously observed in symptomatic individuals. Regardless of symptomatic status, ∼50% of individuals who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 seem to be in noninfectious phases of the disease, based on having low viral loads in a range from which live virus has rarely been isolated. We find that, at any given time, just 2% of individuals carry 90% of the virions circulating within communities, serving as viral “supercarriers” and possibly also superspreaders.

我们分析了科罗拉多大学博尔德分校 2020 年秋季大流行应对工作的数据，其中使用 qRT-PCR 对 72,500 多个唾液样本进行了严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 检测。所有样本均采集自在采集当天未报告与 COVID-19 相关症状的个体。其中，确定了 1,405 例阳性病例。这些无症状个体中病毒载量的分布与之前在有症状个体中观察到的病毒载量分布没有区别。无论症状状态如何，约 50% 的 SARS-CoV-2 检测呈阳性的个体似乎处于疾病的非感染期，因为其病毒载量较低，且很少分离出活病毒。我们发现，在任何特定时间，只有 2% 的人携带社区内传播的 90% 的病毒颗粒，充当病毒“超级携带者”，也可能是超级传播者。