Kolinski John M, Schneider Tobias M
Institute of Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland.
Phys Rev E. 2021 Mar;103(3-1):033109. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.103.033109.
Viral transmission pathways have profound implications for public safety; it is thus imperative to establish a complete understanding of viable infectious avenues. Mounting evidence suggests SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted via the air; however, this has not yet been demonstrated. Here we quantitatively analyze virion accumulation by accounting for aerosolized virion emission and destabilization. Reported superspreading events analyzed within this framework point towards aerosol mediated transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Virion exposure calculated for these events is found to trace out a single value, suggesting a universal minimum infective dose (MID) via aerosol that is comparable to the MIDs measured for other respiratory viruses; thus, the consistent infectious exposure levels and their commensurability to known aerosol-MIDs establishes the plausibility of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Using filtration at a rate exceeding the destabilization rate of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 can reduce exposure below this infective dose.
病毒传播途径对公共安全有着深远影响；因此，必须全面了解可行的感染途径。越来越多的证据表明，严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）可通过空气传播；然而，这一点尚未得到证实。在此，我们通过考虑雾化病毒粒子排放和失稳情况，对病毒粒子积累进行了定量分析。在此框架内分析的报告中的超级传播事件指向SARS-CoV-2通过气溶胶介导的传播。针对这些事件计算出的病毒粒子暴露量被发现可得出单一数值，这表明通过气溶胶传播存在一个普遍的最低感染剂量（MID），该剂量与其他呼吸道病毒所测得的MID相当；因此，一致的感染暴露水平及其与已知气溶胶-MID的可比性确立了SARS-CoV-2气溶胶传播的合理性。以超过雾化SARS-CoV-2失稳速率的速度进行过滤，可将暴露降低至该感染剂量以下。
