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The US points to air transmission as the main route of contagion of the coronavirus

2020-09-21T16:04:54.104Z


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that infection occurs when particles produced by an infected person are inhaled by coughing, sneezing, singing or talking


Most people get infected by inhaling the coronavirus that circulates in airborne particles.

This is the great novelty that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the great American agency for epidemic surveillance, have just introduced in their guides.

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 explains 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 he adds: “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. "

It is possible, explains the CDC, that COVID-19 is spread through droplets and particles in the air that form when an infected person "coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes."

“There is growing evidence that airborne droplets and particles can remain suspended and be inhaled by others, and travel distances beyond two meters (for example, during choir rehearsal, in restaurants, or in dance classes). gymnastics) ". And he warns:" 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 adds 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 emphasize that the "main route" is 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

- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic

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- Search engine: The new normal by municipalities

- Questions and answers about the coronavirus

- Guide to action against the disease

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-09-21

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