Increased aerosol transmission for B.1.1.7 (alpha variant) over lineage A variant of SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: Airborne transmission, a term combining both large droplet and aerosol transmission, is thought to be the main transmission route of SARS-CoV-2. Here we investigated the relative efficiency of aerosol transmission of two variants of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7 (alpha) and lineage A, in the Syrian hamster. A novel transmission caging setup was designed and validated, which allowed the assessment of transmission efficiency at various distances. At 2 meters distance, only particles <5 µm traversed between cages. In this setup, aerosol transmission was confirmed in 8 out of 8 (N = 4 for each variant) sentinels after 24 hours of exposure as demonstrated by respiratory shedding and seroconversion. Successful transmission occurred even when exposure time was limited to one hour, highlighting the efficien

SUBMITTER: Port JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8328059 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature