Human respiration is an important mode of emission transmission of COVID-19 virus



According to Chinese media reports: A research team from Peking University in China has confirmed for the first time that human breathing is an important method of transmission and transmission of the new coronavirus

The study found that the positive rate of new coronavirus in exhaled breath of new crown patients is as high as about 27%, while the positive rate of the environmental related substance table of new crown patients is only 5.4%.

As we all know, the main mode of transmission of the new coronavirus is respiratory droplet transmission and contact transmission. Some experts point out that the possibility of aerosol transmission is not ruled out. Recently, Peking University’s School of Environmental Science and Engineering Professor Yaosheng’s team and the Beijing Chaoyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted research, confirming for the first time that human breathing itself is a very important way of transmission and transmission of the new coronavirus, and most of the particles in the exhaled breath are It is less than PM2.5, which further reveals the fact that aerosols spread and spread the new coronavirus, and provides an important scientific basis for better blocking air transmission in the future.

At present, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought serious life, property and economic losses to human beings. In the future, there are still many uncertain factors in the trend of the epidemic. In response to this epidemic, various prevention, control and blocking measures are being taken around the world, and an important reference is the different transmission routes of the new coronavirus. Many studies have detected the new coronavirus in the air of the medical environment, and found that the virus retains its activity and infectivity. Although these evidences show that the new coronavirus can be spread through the air, there are still many disputes between experts and scholars in different disciplines. Recently, some scientists have called for recognition of the airborne transmission of the new crown virus, and the World Health Organization has also revised the guidelines accordingly, pointing out that the possibility of airborne transmission in crowded and closed environments is not ruled out. However, direct evidence on how the new coronavirus is released into the air is very scarce, and this topic has become the main focus of debate.

Professor Yao Maosheng from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University and his partner team The Beijing Chaoyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention recruited nearly 60 COVID-19 patients (including overseas and local cases in Beijing), 15 healthy people, and some non-COVID-19 respiratory infections Crowds, by using the exhaled breath collection method previously invented by the Peking University team, the exhaled breath condensate of these people was collected.

The team further used RT-PCR (nucleic acid amplification) to find that early-stage patients with new crowns emit a large number of new crowns through breathing, up to several million per hour. The study found that the positive rate of new coronavirus in exhaled breath of new crown patients is as high as about 27%, while the positive rate of the environmental related substance table of new crown patients is only 5.4%. In addition, the team also tested the new coronavirus in the medical environment and isolated hotel ambient air. The new coronavirus was also found in some samples, such as the air in the bathroom, with a concentration of up to 6000 viruses per cubic meter. However, due to measures such as hospital ventilation, the air The concentration of the new coronavirus is low, below the detection limit of nucleic acid amplification.

Previously, the Peking University team used the same method to collect and detect influenza viruses in the exhaled breath of influenza patients. This study confirmed for the first time that human respiration itself is a very important way for the transmission and transmission of the new coronavirus, and most of the particles in the exhaled breath are smaller than PM2.5 (particles with a particle size less than 2.5 microns), which further reveals the spread of aerosols. The fact of the virus provides an important scientific basis for better blocking air transmission and preventing and controlling new coronavirus infections in the future. The research also provides new technical ideas for the use of exhaled breath combined with biosensing to carry out on-site non-invasive rapid screening of patients with new coronary pneumonia, including those in the incubation period and asymptomatic infections. The research results have recently been published online in the flagship journal of the American Society of Infectious Diseases, the Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Among all journals in the field of infectious diseases, the journal has been in the top three most influential journals.

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