Covid19 Spread Through the Air?

I’m not saying I believe every word of this but let’s arm ourselves with all of the information available and try to sift through to the truth as it applies to us. I might have to eat crow on this one.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...onavirus-just-breathing-new-report-finds

Food for thought.....

Nice article. This part confused me a bit though:



" The presence of the RNA indicates virus can spread via aerosols, Santarpia and his colleagues concluded, although they did not find infectious viral particles.'

There is a ton of contradictory data surrounding this topic right now. For every report I read that it is 'airborne' I read a report that says it isn't. For example they are finding the virus in air vents, so that couldn't be just droplets from coughing etc...

The differentiator in most of those reports is the term Mark used 'Aerosol they are not classifying it as an 'airborne' virus, an Airborne virus is spread via 'aerosol'. Right now we see 'some' Aerosol qualities,

I'm wearing my mask anytime I go in public, because I'd rather be safe than sorry........

With 258,112 confirmed cases spread across every state coupled with the severe shortage of testing capability it seems logical that the virus might be spread in other forms than droplets from someone coughing or sneezing.

This. And the fact that it spreads so much easier than flu.

Per studies so far, it stays active, although in diminishing strength, over time on surfaces. Cardboard was like 24 hours, plastic and steel up to 3 days. So you touch something, then scratch your nose, eat something with your hands, ect., it can find a way into your system other than by direct vapor/mist/droplet inhalation. Thus the WASH YOUR DANG HANDS messaging.

Yes. Even with it lasting on surfaces I dont see how it can spread so fast without having some sort of airborne connection

Pretty sure when I was a kid in the 60’s we caught Measles it was considered airborn.

I can’t say I grasped that either. I know sometimes you have to prep a sample to run a PCR so possibly they are differentiating, or able to differentiate, finding the genetic material in the air samplers via PCR though they didn’t find any intact viruses (infectious viral particles).

Since the virus is in a somewhat fragile envelope I would assume a hospital setting isn’t very friendly to it which means some will break apart letting that RNA travel so far.

A lot of assumptions on my part.

It sure is Billy and a particularly nasty one too.

Same here. That deep in the weeds is well above my training and education. I am sure they are correct I just was a bit thrown off by that line.

"Viral RNA turned up on hard to reach surfaces, as well as in air samplers more than 2 meters from the patients. The presence of the RNA indicates virus can spread via aerosols, Santarpia and his colleagues concluded, although they did not find infectious viral particles."

That just means they found the remains of what were once infections particles. RNA is to a virus as DNA is to us.

What I was told from out consultant that is an infections disease expert is that in some instances it may be in aerosol form but that's not the case 99.9% of the time. He said if it happens it is extremely rare and nothing to worry about. The study he sent me said that only 10.5% of people with it gave it to someone in the same household. If it were airborne, that number would be much higher. Basically wash your hands, don't let people cough on you and you'll be okay.

A surgeon friend of mine and his team must wait 10-15 minutes for an air exchange to occur in the OR before entering.
The only person in the OR during that time is the anesthesiologist. Apparently they believe it can spread thru aerosol and travel thru air vents etc.

For SARS I've read there are certain situations in hospital environments where it can easily aerosolize (for instance when a patient is on a ventilator). I've also read that they think there could be rare individuals who have unique physiological traits that cause them to aerosolize the virus turning them into "Super spreaders." Nobody knows if that's true for COVD-19, but they are both corona viruses.

So they think it can travel by air but the particles they found were not infectious? So does it stop being infectious when it gets on something or not? That is the part that seems contradictory.

I think they just found it after it had died and was no longer infectious. (I understand viruses aren't really alive, that's just the best analogy I can think of it.). I think they actually probably essentially melt, as they have a lipid envelope. So there outside wall is basically made of fat. Once that dissolves, you'd have the RNA left, but a virus that was essentially dead. A virus carcass if you.

Some of the same info and some new.
https://www.nap.edu/read/25769/chapter/1

Read this...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/opinion/coronavirus-viral-dose.html?referringSource=articleShare

You’re friend is correct. A hospital setting is a high risk environment because aerosols are routinely generated when they use ventilators, air purifiers, certain breathing treatments, etc.

That’s why a hospital is the last place you want to be right now if you can help it and also why they need the N95 masks.

Viruses are intracellular parasites. They have RNA or DNA but not both. A virus multiplies inside living cells by using that cells machinery. Some are nonenveloped and some have an envelope. Forces the host cell to prod more viral nucleic acid and more viral proteins which are assembled into new viruse.

I took it to mean the virus either got sneezed or coughed onto a “hard to reach place” and then “died” (became non-infectious) or these RNA remnants got blown around as they do in hospital settings. The fact that there were no viable viruses on the surfaces tested is a head scratcher but follows along with what we’d previously understood regarding transmission modes.

An opinion piece from the New York Times?! Really, Toad Snatcher?

I never thought I’d say this but I really think he’s on to something!

Thanks for posting.

Duh, China sent it over in toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, shaving cream, and everything else you touch

You are welcome. It’s just this persons educated hypothesis....

An operating room by design is positive pressure, with 20 air changes per hour. This means the entire room has new air in it every 3 minutes. The problem with ORs is they are designed to blow the virus out of the room. Into the sterile corridors. Surgeons are not generally operating on infectious persons. Infectious Isolation requires negative pressure where all air leaves through exhaust fans and out of the building. The air from the corridor is pulled into the space. You can not do this in an operating room because a person who has been opened up can not risk having the air from the corridor pulled into them. Staph and other infections will shut down an OR, and get surgeons sued.
Not sure they are performing a lot of surgeries on these folks as they may not be able to bring them out of anesthesia.

I’ve been hoping that this thing wasn’t airborne. I’ve been assuming that, the way my luck runs, it will be though.

I was just about to says this but you beat me to it. I concur with what you said.

Doe this mean our cell phones are not safe?

I am going to wait for an answer on this and see if I agree.

Have you thought about a career as a yes man?

Yes

as long as you are not using 5G you should be ok.

The hospital where I work we are functioning as if it were airborne but I did run across this. I sure would feel better knowing it was droplet but that seems to be "up in the air" right now.
https://www.who.int/news-room/comme...tions-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations