Breathing, speaking, coughing or sneezing: What drives transmission of SARS-CoV-2?

Journal of Internal Medicine
Valentyn StadnytskyiAdriaan Bax

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly contagious, as demonstrated by numerous well-documented superspreading events. The infection commonly starts in the upper respiratory tract (URT) but can migrate to the lower respiratory tract (LRT) and other organs, often with severe consequences. Whereas LRT infection can lead to shedding of virus via breath and cough droplets, URT infection enables shedding via abundant speech droplets. Their viral load can be high in carriers with mild or no symptoms, an observation linked to the abundance of SARS-CoV-2-susceptible cells in the oral cavity epithelium. Expelled droplets rapidly lose water through evaporation, with the smaller ones transforming into long-lived aerosol. Although the largest speech droplets can carry more virions, they are few in number, fall to the ground rapidly and therefore play a relatively minor role in transmission. Of more concern is small speech aerosol, which can descend deep into the LRT and cause severe disease. However, since their total volume is small, the amount of virus they carry is low. Nevertheless, in closed environments with inadequate ventilation, they can accumulate, which elevates the risk of direct LRT infection. Of most concern is the large fraction of s...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 29, 2021·Journal of Internal Medicine·J Andersson
Aug 28, 2021·British Dental Journal·Shaun Sellars
Jul 17, 2021·Journal of Internal Medicine·Poorna KushalnagarAdriaan Bax
Dec 5, 2021·Indoor Air·Noach Leon RibaricGoran Ribaric

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