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Hilary

@luckytran

I'd always assumed that germ theory meant germs. Which could spread by contagion, or via aerosol (equivalent to miasma).

Early in the covid pandemic I was just perplexed. Thinking... have these "experts" never done housework? Never dusted stuff? How can they possibly believe that particles larger than 5 µm can't stay airborne?

I was right and they were wrong.

But that whole "wash your hands" and "no you don't need to wear a mask" error came from that.

Jan 02, 2025, 10:05 PM·Quiet public·Web
3boosts·5favorites
Quiet public
Cassandrich

@regordane @luckytran There was evidence they were wrong over 100 years ago. This was willful not ignorance.

Quiet public
Panda Cab

@regordane

I always understood that "being airborne" is not just about staying airborne but also being able to spread and survive at all while airborne?

@luckytran

Quiet public
dr2chase

@regordane @luckytran

you are right but it is even worse than that, the "fine" aerosol super-floaty stuff contains lots of Covid RNA and is also infectious.

majority of Covid RNA is in ≤5 µm particles: medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/20

Covid cultured from ≤5 µm particles exhaled particles:
academic.oup.com/cid/article/7

medRxiv · Viral Load of SARS-CoV-2 in Respiratory Aerosols Emitted by COVID-19 Patients while Breathing, Talking, and SingingBackground Multiple SARS-CoV-2 superspreading events suggest that aerosols play an important role in driving the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the detailed roles of coarse (>5μm) and fine (≤5μm) respiratory aerosols produced when breathing, talking, and singing are not well-understood. Methods Using a G-II exhaled breath collector, we measured viral RNA in coarse and fine respiratory aerosols emitted by COVID-19 patients during 30 minutes of breathing, 15 minutes of talking, and 15 minutes of singing. Results Among the 22 study participants, 13 (59%) emitted detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in respiratory aerosols, including 3 asymptomatic patients and 1 presymptomatic patient. Viral loads ranged from 63–5,821 N gene copies per expiratory activity per patient. Patients earlier in illness were more likely to emit detectable RNA, and loads differed significantly between breathing, talking, and singing. The largest proportion of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies was emitted by singing (53%), followed by talking (41%) and breathing (6%). Overall, fine aerosols constituted 85% of the viral load detected in our study. Virus cultures were negative. Conclusions Fine aerosols produced by talking and singing contain more SARS-CoV-2 copies than coarse aerosols and may play a significant role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Exposure to fine aerosols should be mitigated, especially in indoor environments where airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is likely to occur. Isolating viable SARS-CoV-2 from respiratory aerosol samples remains challenging, and whether this can be more easily accomplished for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is an important enquiry for future studies. Key Points We sampled respiratory aerosols emitted by COVID-19 patients and discovered that fine aerosols (≤5μm) generated during talking and singing contain more SARS-CoV-2 copies than coarse aerosols (>5μm) and may play a significant role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. ### Competing Interest Statement Author P.A.T. reports receiving grants from Roche, Arcturus, Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi Pasteur, and personal fees from AJ Biologicals, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest. ### Funding Statement This work was supported by the Singapore National Medical Research Council [COVID19RF3-0080 to T.K.W., K.K.C., and M.C., and NMRC/CG/M009/2017 NUH/NUHS to J.J.H.C.] and the National University of Singapore [NUS Reimagine Research Grant to J.J.H.C.]. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the National Healthcare Group Domain Specific Review Board, reference number 2020/01113. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Data are available from coauthors upon reasonable request. Data can be provided upon reasonable request.
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