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Shorter Incubation Period among COVID-19 Cases with the BA.1 Omicron Variant

Author

Listed:
  • Hideo Tanaka

    (Public Health Center of Neyagawa City, Neyagawa 572-0838, Japan)

  • Tsuyoshi Ogata

    (Itako Public Health Center of Ibaraki Prefectural Government, Itako 311-2422, Japan)

  • Toshiyuki Shibata

    (Public Health Center of Suita City, Suita 564-0072, Japan)

  • Hitomi Nagai

    (Ibaraki Public Health Center of Osaka Prefectural Government, Ibaraki 567-8585, Japan)

  • Yuki Takahashi

    (Fujiidera Public Health Center of Osaka Prefectural Government, Fujiidera 583-0024, Japan)

  • Masaru Kinoshita

    (Fujiidera Public Health Center of Osaka Prefectural Government, Fujiidera 583-0024, Japan)

  • Keisuke Matsubayashi

    (Public Health Center of Suita City, Suita 564-0072, Japan)

  • Sanae Hattori

    (Ibaraki Prefetural Office, Mito 310-0852, Japan)

  • Chie Taniguchi

    (College of Nursing, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute 480-1195, Japan)

Abstract

We aimed to elucidate the range of the incubation period in patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in comparison with the Alpha variant. Contact tracing data from three Japanese public health centers (total residents, 1.06 million) collected following the guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Control Law were reviewed for 1589 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases diagnosed in January 2022. We identified 77 eligible symptomatic patients for whom the date and setting of transmission were known, in the absence of any other probable routes of transmission. The observed incubation period was 3.03 ± 1.35 days (mean ± SDM). In the log-normal distribution, 5th, 50th and 95th percentile values were 1.3 days (95% CI: 1.0–1.6), 2.8 days (2.5–3.1) and 5.8 days (4.8–7.5), significantly shorter than among the 51 patients with the Alpha variant diagnosed in April and May in 2021 (4.94 days ± 2.19, 2.1 days (1.5–2.7), 4.5 days (4.0–5.1) and 9.6 days (7.4–13.0), p < 0.001). As this incubation period, mainly of sublineage BA.1, is even shorter than that in the Delta variant, it is thought to partially explain the variant replacement occurring in late 2021 to early 2022 in many countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Hideo Tanaka & Tsuyoshi Ogata & Toshiyuki Shibata & Hitomi Nagai & Yuki Takahashi & Masaru Kinoshita & Keisuke Matsubayashi & Sanae Hattori & Chie Taniguchi, 2022. "Shorter Incubation Period among COVID-19 Cases with the BA.1 Omicron Variant," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-7, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6330-:d:821927
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tsuyoshi Ogata & Hideo Tanaka & Fujiko Irie & Atsushi Hirayama & Yuki Takahashi, 2022. "Shorter Incubation Period among Unvaccinated Delta Variant Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-15, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tsuyoshi Ogata & Hideo Tanaka & Emiko Tanaka & Natsumi Osaki & Etsuko Noguchi & Yukino Osaki & Ayane Tono & Koji Wada, 2022. "Increased Secondary Attack Rates among the Household Contacts of Patients with the Omicron Variant of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-11, June.
    2. Chen, Jiaqi & Gu, Changgui & Ruan, Zhongyuan & Tang, Ming, 2023. "Competition of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the pandemic transmission dynamics," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Lucia D. Willems & Vernandi Dyzel & Paula S. Sterkenburg, 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions amongst Healthcare Workers: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-20, August.

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