Journal
INTERFACE FOCUS
Volume 11, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2021.0049
Keywords
droplets; aerosols; historical; transmission; respiratory diseases; public health
Categories
Funding
- Center for Zoonotic, Emerging, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens (CeZAP) at Virginia Tech
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance [HHSN272201400007C]
- NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure [ECCS 1542100, ECCS 2025151]
- MIT Reed and Edgerton Funds
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Wellcome Trust
- Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Vision Research
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed gaps in our understanding of airborne virus transmission, leading to confusion in public health policies and messaging. Current recommendations are based on inconsistent principles requiring better collaboration and integration of scientific research for effective public health policies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed major gaps in our understanding of the transmission of viruses through the air. These gaps slowed recognition of airborne transmission of the disease, contributed to muddled public health policies and impeded clear messaging on how best to slow transmission of COVID-19. In particular, current recommendations have been based on four tenets: (i) respiratory disease transmission routes can be viewed mostly in a binary manner of 'droplets' versus 'aerosols'; (ii) this dichotomy depends on droplet size alone; (iii) the cut-off size between these routes of transmission is 5 mu m; and (iv) there is a dichotomy in the distance at which transmission by each route is relevant. Yet, a relationship between these assertions is not supported by current scientific knowledge. Here, we revisit the historical foundation of these notions, and how they became entangled from the 1800s to today, with a complex interplay among various fields of science and medicine. This journey into the past highlights potential solutions for better collaboration and integration of scientific results into practice for building a more resilient society with more sound, far-sighted and effective public health policies.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available