Droplets and aerosols: An artificial dichotomy in respiratory virus transmission
Drossinos Y, Weber TP, Stilianakis N (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Book Volume: 4
Journal Issue: 2
DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.275
Abstract
In the medical literature, three mutually non-exclusive modes of pathogen transmission associated with respiratory droplets are usually identified: contact, droplet, and airborne (or aerosol) transmission. The demarcation between droplet and airborne transmission is often based on a cut-off droplet diameter, most commonly 5 mu m. We argue here that the infectivity of a droplet, and consequently the transmissivity of the virus, as a function of droplet size is a continuum, depending on numerous factors (gravitational settling rate, transport, and dispersion in a turbulent air jet, viral load and viral shedding, virus inactivation) that cannot be adequately characterized by a single droplet diameter. We propose instead that droplet and aerosol transmission should be replaced by a unique airborne transmission mode, to be distinguished from contact transmission.
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Netherlands (NL)How to cite
APA:
Drossinos, Y., Weber, T.P., & Stilianakis, N. (2021). Droplets and aerosols: An artificial dichotomy in respiratory virus transmission. Health Science Reports, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.275
MLA:
Drossinos, Yannis, Thomas P. Weber, and Nikolaos Stilianakis. "Droplets and aerosols: An artificial dichotomy in respiratory virus transmission." Health Science Reports 4.2 (2021).
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