Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 22, Pages 11875-11877Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2006874117
Keywords
COVID-19; speech droplet; independent action hypothesis; respiratory disease; disease transmission
Categories
Funding
- Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES [ZIADK075154] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Speech droplets generated by asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are increasingly considered to be a likely mode of disease transmission. Highly sensitive laser light scattering observations have revealed that loud speech can emit thousands of oral fluid droplets per second. In a closed, stagnant air environment, they disappear from the window of view with time constants in the range of 8 to 14 min, which corresponds to droplet nuclei of ca. 4 mu m diameter, or 12- to 21-mu m droplets prior to dehydration. These observations confirm that there is a substantial probability that normal speaking causes airborne virus transmission in confined environments.
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