Heavy breaths can be Covid-19 SUPERSPREADERS – with obese and old people the worst offenders
- American researchers assessed exhaled aerosol particles from nearly 200 people
- Also infected primates with Covid to see how the infection altered production
- BMI, age, and Covid infection were all linked to increased aerosol production
- 80% of the aerosols were made by 18% of the people, meeting the definition of a superspreader event
Superspreaders have long been known to be responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus infections, and now a study has found heavy breaths to be likely culprits.
Data shows that more than 80 percent of all exhaled aerosol particles are produced by less than one in five people, and it meets the technical definition for superspreaders.
These tiny particles can contain viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and are so small that they float around in a room and linger for several minutes.
The elderly, people with a high BMI and infected cases are more likely to experience heavy breaths that spew out massive amounts of infectious particles, the study shows.
The elderly and people with a high BMI are more likely to experience heavy breaths that spew out massive amounts of infectious particles, the study found.
In the first part of the study, the number of particles per person per liter was measured and compared with a combination of their age and BMI.
It showed a strong link between age and BMI with increased production of exhaled aerosols, suggesting that fatter and older people are the worst offenders as they are super spreaders of heavy breaths.
The study reveals a ‘classic superspreading 20:80’ distribution, the authors note.
The so-called 80:20 rule means that in order for something to be scientifically considered a superspreader event, at least 80 percent of infections must be caused by no more than 20 percent of people.
“The superspreading phenomenon of COVID-19 is perhaps not only a matter of air currents and proximity to infected and naive hosts, but also its phenotype,” the scientists write in their paper published in PNAS.
The exhaled air of 194 health people was studied by scientists at Harvard, MIT and Tulane University.
They also deliberately gave Covid to eight monkeys to see if infection with the coronavirus affected the amount of aerosols produced.
In their study, the authors write that the Covid-19 particles produced by infected primates “reach a crescendo” one week after infection, before returning to normal after two weeks in a similar way to humans.
Data shows that more than 80 percent of all exhaled aerosol particles are produced by less than one in five people. These tiny particles can contain viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and are so small that they float around in a room and linger for several minutes (stock)
The increase in exhaled aerosols occurred even in asymptomatic cases of Covid-19, says Dr. Chad Roy, the corresponding author of Tulane’s study.
“It seems likely that viral and bacterial respiratory infections can weaken the respiratory mucus, promoting the movement of infectious particles into this environment,” he said.
Lead author Dr. David Edwards, of Harvard, believes how many respiratory drops a person changes depending on their body and health.
While our results show that young and healthy people tend to produce far fewer droplets than older and less healthy people, they also show that when infected with COVID-19, each of us is at risk of having a high number of respiratory droplets. produce. ,’ he said.
Previous research has found that joggers may also be super spreaders of the virus.
A video, prepared by Professor Bert Blocken and Fabio Malizia (KU Leuven & Technology University Eiondhoven (TU / e) and made possible by simulation technology company Ansys, showed that drops can spread more than 6 feet behind you while you walk, run or cycling.
“ When we see a whale or dolphin blowing through their blowhole, we can see the water and jump out of the way if we have to, ” Marc Horner, Ansys’s chief health care engineer, told DailyMail.com
‘But when someone sneezes or coughs, it goes so fast and the drops are so small, [the simulation gets] that mental image in your head of how far to stand so that gravity has time to pull the drops down. ‘