Aerosols have become the focus of the spread of the coronavirus.
The tiny particles can float in the air for a long time.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach warns.
The
coronavirus
is not only spread by droplet infection, but also by
aerosols
.
Badly ventilated and small rooms are therefore dangerous in Corona times.
Now
SPD politician Karl Lauterbach
fears
aerosols in a special place.
Munich - Since the beginning of the
corona
pandemic *, science has found out a lot about the virus.
There are still many puzzles that keep researchers all over the world busy.
Experts now agree that poorly ventilated or closed rooms increase the risk of infection.
In the fresh air, however, infection with Sars-CoV-2 * is less likely.
Coronavirus and aerosols: important transmission route for the virus
In
addition to droplets,
aerosols
apparently play a role
in the
transmission of the coronavirus
.
While large droplets (larger than 5 µm) sink quickly to the ground, aerosols can float longer in the air and spread across the room, even over a distance of two meters.
When breathing and speaking, but even more so when screaming and singing, aerosols are excreted, explains the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in the coronavirus profile.
Infectious patients can spread the coronavirus unhindered in this way - even to people who keep a minimum distance.
At first, research was divided on the subject of aerosols.
But only through this transmission path can so-called “superspreading outbreaks”, such as in the slaughterhouses in Germany, during carnival or after a choir rehearsal, be explained.
In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized that
Sars-CoV-2
can be transmitted
through aerosols
.
240 researchers had previously written an open letter to the WHO, pointing out the underestimated danger.
Coronavirus: Study reveals corona transmission route: is the “chimney effect” dangerous?
Berlin's top virologist Christian Drosten was already convinced at the beginning of the corona pandemic that the
tiny particles
could be responsible for every second infection.
US researchers from the University of Florida recently demonstrated that contagious coronaviruses stick to aerosols.
However, the study has yet to go through the peer review process.
However, the researchers have not investigated whether the viral load on the suspended particles can actually trigger a coronavirus infection.
How aerosols spread in rooms depends on various factors.
So the
humidity
plays
a role.
The coronavirus spreads more rapidly in dry rooms.
A team of researchers from Leipzig and India found this out in an analysis of ten international studies.
The results were published in the journal “Aerosol and Air Quality Research”
.
They recommend a humidity of at least 40 percent to reduce the effects of Covid-19 and other viral diseases.
Coronavirus: Lauterbach warns of aerosol transmission in high-rise buildings
"Unappetizing" - is how SPD politician Karl
Lauterbach describes
a study that deals with a special type of aerosol spread, namely with
aerosols
from
flushing toilets
of people infected
with
coronavirus in a
high-rise building
.
The researchers
examined
over
200 air and surface
samples and came to the conclusion that the residents in the building complex were apparently infected in the bathroom by virus-laden air aerosols - in the bathroom.
According to the researchers, the people in a high-rise building in Guangzhou (China) had
no physical contact
and were still infected with the corona virus.
The apartments of those affected were only connected by drain pipes in the bathrooms.
Above all in the vertical connection of the sewage system in the high-rise building was responsible for the spread of the aerosols.
They observed a so-called “chimney effect” through which the corona virus spreads when flushing the toilet.
Unappetizing.
Hopefully that won't be confirmed.
The aerosols from flushing the toilet of the infected on the ground floor and the lower floors end up in the bathroom on the upper floors.
The "chimney effect" of toilet flushing ... https://t.co/DDbUlhu97u
- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) September 1, 2020
Here you can find all developments on the subject of coronavirus in Germany in our news ticker.
(ml)
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editorial network
In the Corona crisis, SPD politician Karl Lauterbach repeatedly urges caution and appeals to the common sense of the population.
For fear of being infected with the corona virus, a couple of parents locked their three children in their rooms for four months.
Now the children have been set free.
US researchers have now investigated how different face masks and visors can protect against infection.
