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The CDC withdraws from its website the guide in which it indicated the airway as the main mode of contagion of the covid

2020-09-21T17:25:53.827Z


The US agency for the fight against epidemics says a draft was published by mistakeThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an update to its guidelines Sunday night in which they noted that the airway is the main mode of contagion of the coronavirus. It is a position that agrees with the scientific evidence that is accumulating in this regard. But on Monday afternoon they removed that update, warning that it is a draft published by mistake and that its word


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an update to its guidelines Sunday night in which they noted that the airway is the main mode of contagion of the coronavirus.

It is a position that agrees with the scientific evidence that is accumulating in this regard.

But on Monday afternoon they removed that update, warning that it is a draft published by mistake and that its wording must be polished.

A high representative of the organization assures that this version "does not reflect our current state of knowledge," according to The Washington Post.

The great novelty that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US agency for epidemic surveillance, introduced in their guides was that most people are infected by inhaling the coronavirus that circulates in particles suspended in the air .

This factor is of great importance when it comes to influencing the exhaustive ventilation of interior spaces and the recommendation to move activities outside as far as possible.

Transmission by contact with surfaces, to which many resources are devoted to cleaning and gloves, would be unusual.

This update from the US epidemiological center explained that contagion occurs "through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as aerosols, which are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes."

And she added: “These particles can be inhaled through the nose, mouth, airways and lungs and cause an infection.

This is believed to be the main way the virus spreads. "

Now, the wording has reverted to the June 16 version, and continues to encourage indoor ventilation.

The spread of covid occurs "through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks."

"These droplets can fall into the mouth or nose of people who are close or possibly be inhaled into the lungs," says the version now on the web.

It is possible, the note explained, that covid-19 spreads through droplets and particles in the air that form when an infected person “coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes”: “There is growing evidence of that droplets and particles in the air can remain suspended and be inhaled by others, and travel distances beyond two meters (for example, during choir rehearsal, in restaurants or in gymnastics classes). "And he warned : "In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk."

"There is growing evidence that droplets and particles can remain suspended in the air and be inhaled by others, and travel distances beyond two meters"

CDC

In addition, this medical body added that this disease spreads "easily" from one person to another, a nuance that appears for the first time in this update.

However, specialists warn, the fact that it is spread through the air does not make it something as contagious as measles, another disease that spreads through the air, but with a much greater infectious capacity and that remains in a room for hours.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized in July the existence of this airway of contagion, which until then it despised, although only as a possibility that needed more evidence.

A few weeks later, the “smoking gun” they were looking for arrived: a study showed virus particles capable of infecting from five meters away.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, it was considered that the most common mode of contagion was the droplets released by a patient when coughing or talking that ended up on the mucous membranes of another person, such as the mouth, eyes or nose.

This route is still in force, so the safety distance of two meters and the need to use masks does not change anything in this regard.

"In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk," says the CDC, "for example, during a choir rehearsal, in restaurants or in gym classes."

But the words of the CDC stressed that the "main route" would be the inhalation of contagious microscopic particles, the so-called aerosols, which remain suspended in the air after leaving the mouth or nose of the infected person.

The time that these particles remain floating, at risk of accumulating and infecting someone, depends mainly on ventilation.

For this reason, specialists insist on the need to move all possible activities abroad, where it has been observed that contagion is almost 20 times less likely, precisely because the contagious particles are immediately diluted with the air.

“Indoors, ventilation should be permanent, windows always open, you can't let it accumulate.

But the most effective thing is to do it all outside ”, recalls scientist José Luis Jiménez, from the University of Colorado, in constant discussion with the WHO to get them to accept the importance of aerosols.

Many of the great supercontagative events, in which a good part of the outbreaks occur, happen in circumstances in which aerosols have been a determining factor.

This is what happened in one of the milestones of the pandemic: the Skagit choir rehearsal, in Washington, held on March 10.

"The people who attended adhered to the recommendations to avoid transmission by close contact," highlighted specialist Lidia Morawska.

They did not wave to each other, nor were there kisses or hugs, and they used hand sanitizer, trying not to touch objects.

Logically, there could be some flaw in your precautions.

Similarly, a Chinese restaurant in which the diners at the adjoining tables were infected, some more than four meters away, showed that the lack of ventilation with the outside was the only reason for contagion.

"The greatest risk occurs in closed and crowded spaces, except if ventilation is efficient," settled Morawska, lead author of the letter that has bowed to the WHO.

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Information about the coronavirus

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-09-21

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