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Airborne transmission of respiratory viruses

2021/08/26 by Chia C. Wang, Kimberly A. Prather, Josué Sznitman +6 · 1 voice · 55 citations
Medicine · Mathematics · Psychology · #Infection Control and Ventilation #COVID-19 epidemiological studies #COVID-19 and Mental Health

paper · doi:10.1126/science.abd9149

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of and a need to update the traditional view of transmission pathways for respiratory viruses. The long-standing definitions of droplet and airborne transmission do not account for the mechanisms by which virus-laden respiratory droplets and aerosols travel through the air and lead to infection. In this Review, we discuss current evidence regarding the transmission of respiratory viruses by aerosols-how they are generated, transported, and deposited, as well as the factors affecting the relative contributions of droplet-spray deposition versus aerosol inhalation as modes of transmission. Improved understanding of aerosol transmission brought about by studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection requires a reevaluation of the major transmission pathways for other respiratory viruses, which will allow better-informed controls to reduce airborne transmission.

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