Department of Aerospace Engineering, Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Neubiberg 85577, Germany.
Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Professorship of Exercise Biology, Technische Universität München, Munich 80809, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 May 30;120(22):e2301145120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2301145120. Epub 2023 May 22.
Airborne respiratory aerosol particle transmission of pathogens such as severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), influenza, or rhinoviruses plays a major role in the spread of infectious diseases. The infection risk is increased during indoor exercise, as aerosol particle emission can increase by more than 100-fold from rest to maximal exercise. Earlier studies have investigated the effect of factors such as age, sex, and body mass index (BMI), but only at rest and without taking ventilation into account. Here, we report that during both rest and exercise, subjects aged 60 to 76 y emit on average more than twice as many aerosol particles per minute than subjects aged 20 to 39 y. In terms of volume, older subjects emit on average five times as much dry volume (i.e., the residue of dried aerosol particles) than younger subjects. There was no statistically significant effect of sex or BMI within the test group. Together, this suggests that aging of the lung and respiratory tract is associated with an increased generation of aerosol particles irrespective of ventilation. Our findings demonstrate that age and exercise increase aerosol particle emission. In contrast, sex or BMI only have minor effects.
空气传播呼吸道飞沫传播病原体，如严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）、流感或鼻病毒，在传染病传播中起着主要作用。室内运动时感染风险增加，因为从休息到最大运动，气溶胶颗粒的排放可增加 100 多倍。早期的研究已经调查了年龄、性别和体重指数（BMI）等因素的影响，但仅在休息时考虑，而不考虑通风。在这里，我们报告说，在休息和运动期间，60 至 76 岁的受试者每分钟排放的气溶胶颗粒数量平均是 20 至 39 岁受试者的两倍以上。就体积而言，老年受试者平均排放的干燥体积（即干燥气溶胶颗粒的残留物）是年轻受试者的五倍。在测试组中，性别或 BMI 没有统计学上的显著影响。总的来说，这表明无论通风如何，肺部和呼吸道的老化与气溶胶颗粒生成的增加有关。我们的研究结果表明，年龄和运动增加了气溶胶颗粒的排放。相比之下，性别或 BMI 只有很小的影响。
