For the past several months, the world has been dealing with an unprecedented crisis, which came in the form of coronavirus pandemic. The new strains of the virus originated in China’s Wuhan city and has by now claimed more than 3 lakhs lives worldwide with no signs of slowing down.
Scientists still lack complete understanding of how this virus works.
By far we know that the virus is highly contagious and spreads through air droplets from an infected person while coughing, sneezing or talking. It can even stay on some surface for a few days. Some reports hinted towards the likelihood of airborne transmission, which means the virus can spread through the particles suspended in the air.
What is airborne transmission
The term airborne is referred to as the transmission of pathogens through aerosols. The aerosols are tiny respiratory droplets that remain suspended in the air and are comparatively smaller than the large droplets that fall on the ground when someone sneezes or coughs. There is no clear demarcation between droplets and aerosols, but the airborne spread has been in consideration even in case of other acute respiratory problems like SARS and MERS.
Person-to-person transmission of the virus through the air after inhaling infectious particle is known as aerosol transmission. Human beings can inhale particles up to 100 μm in size and the aerosolized particle is smaller than this. Pathogens lingering in the air can travel long as well as a short distance from the source depending on its shape and size. All these factors increase the risk of airborne transmission of coronavirus.
Some studies suggest that the COVID19 virus can be present in the aerosol particle particularly in the health care centres. Still, there is no data available on how infectious is the virus in air, how much virus one needs to get exposed to, to get sick and how common is aerosol transmission as compared to other means of transmission.
Several pieces of evidence prove that the virus suspended in the tiny droplets can cause infection. As per a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, coronavirus can remain in aerosols for at least three hours.
Factors that influence the risk of airborne spread
Based on the evidence it cannot be denied that coronavirus can spread through aerosols. But there are some factors that affect the risk of transmission.
-The degree of contagiousness is low as compared to other means of transmission. In case of coronavirus, a sick person can infect about 2 to 3 other persons.
-Some people can infect more than 10 people and are referred to as superspreaders.
-The risk of transmission is higher in closed spaces as compared to open spaces. Poorly ventilated room could be risky.
-Wearing a mask may protect a healthy individual but it highly depends on the kind of mask you are using and how you are using it.
-Primary mode of infection is coming in direct contact with the infected person or by touching contaminated surfaces. The possibility of airborne transmission is still low. So, to protect yourself wash your hands after a regular interval and practise social distancing.