The airborne lifetime of small speech droplets and their potential importance in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32404416.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2006874117 and PMC identifier 7275719.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Speech droplets generated by asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are increasingly considered to be a likely mode of disease transmission. Highly sensitive laser light scattering observations have revealed that loud speech can emit thousands of oral fluid droplets per second. In a closed, stagnant air environment, they disappear from the window of view with time constants in the range of 8 to 14 min, which corresponds to droplet nuclei of <i>ca.</i> 4 μm diameter, or 12- to 21-μm droplets prior to dehydration. These observations confirm that there is a substantial probability that normal speaking causes airborne virus transmission in confined environments.
Medical subject headings
- Air Microbiology
- Betacoronavirus
- Coronavirus Infections
- Pneumonia, Viral
- Saliva