Aerate, aerate, aerate!
More than a year after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, this instruction, which is as simple as it is crucial to block the contagion, is only too infrequently applied, deplore experts on Thursday.
"We are much more likely to be infected in a room whose windows cannot be opened or which does not have a ventilation system", that is to say of air renewal, recall these four virus and air circulation specialists in an editorial published by the British medical journal BMJ.
READ ALSO>
Covid-19: live events
"It is now clear that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted mainly from person to person by inhalation and at a relatively short distance", underline the signatories, Julian Tang (University of Leicester, England), Linsey Marr ( Virginia Tech University, United States), Yuguo Li (University of Hong Kong) and Stephanie Dancer (Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland).
In comparison, "the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 after touching surfaces is considered relatively minimal," they continue.
No distinction between small and large droplets
It is necessary, according to them, "to put the accent on ventilation" because "the smallest particles
(exhaled)
can remain suspended in the air for hours and represent an important route of transmission".
They reject the distinction traditionally made between droplets of saliva, which are heavy and fall quickly to the ground, and the finer particles which remain suspended in the air.
According to "a traditional terminology dating from the last century", only the seconds are called "aerosols".
But, according to them, this distinction has led to a poor assessment of the risk of transmission of Covid in the air, with too much emphasis on the droplets.
“After one year of the pandemic, we are still debating the role and importance of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by aerosols, which is sometimes only briefly mentioned in some epidemic control guidelines. », They continue.
“Basically, if you inhale particles, whatever their size or name, you are breathing aerosols,” they write.
“Improving ventilation and air quality, especially in healthcare facilities, workplaces and schools, will help us all be safe.”
