Assessing suspension and infectivity times of virus-loaded aerosols involved in airborne transmission.

ABSTRACT: Airborne transmission occurs through droplet-mediated transport of viruses following the expulsion of an aerosol by an infected host. Transmission efficiency results from the interplay between virus survival in the drying droplet and droplet suspension time in the air, controlled by the coupling between water evaporation and droplet sedimentation. Furthermore, droplets are made of a respiratory fluid and thus, display a complex composition consisting of water and nonvolatile solutes. Here, we quantify the impact of this complex composition on the different phenomena underlying transmission. Solutes lead to a nonideal thermodynamic behavior, which sets an equilibrium droplet size that is independent of relative humidity. In contrast, solutes do not significantly hinder transport due to thei

SUBMITTER: Merhi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9371747 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature