tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Hazard Mater
. 2024 Nov 4:480:136388.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136388. Online ahead of print. Co-existence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 infection and non-infection in three connected zones of a restaurant
Wei Jia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qun Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], David Christopher Lung[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Pak-To Chan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Peihua Wang[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Edwin Chung-Hin Dung[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tiffany Didik[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Garnet Kwan-Yue Choi[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Herman Tse[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yijie Wu[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Te Miao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenzhao Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hua Qian[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Fan Xue[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Yuguo Li[SUP] 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
The lack of knowledge on quanta generation rates presents a major obstacle to specifying the minimum ventilation required to prevent airborne infections. The expected largest quanta generation rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by a super-spreader remains unknown. Here we investigated a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak during lunch in a restaurant using epidemiological, whole-genome sequencing and environmental analyses. Both tracer gas and fine particles were used in field experiments to quantify aerosol dispersion and removal across three interconnected zones: Zone A, Zone B and Zone C. All 21 secondary patron infections occurred in Zone B. This unique infection feature and measured dilution flow rates allowed us to estimate the largest reported quanta generation rates to date, ranging from 1724 to 1968 quanta/h. These rates were sufficiently high to cause a high attack rate in Zone B but did not cause infections in Zones A and C, likely due to sufficient dilution and insignificant contaminated airflow from Zone B, respectively. Our finding of the largest quanta generation rate so far suggests that avoiding secondary infection by dilution alone in the presence of a super-emitter might not be possible in typical air-conditioned buildings and other prevention strategies need to be developed.
Keywords: Airborne transmission; COVID-19; FCU filtration; Minimum ventilation requirement; Quanta generation rate.
. 2024 Nov 4:480:136388.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136388. Online ahead of print. Co-existence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 infection and non-infection in three connected zones of a restaurant
Wei Jia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qun Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], David Christopher Lung[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Pak-To Chan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Peihua Wang[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Edwin Chung-Hin Dung[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tiffany Didik[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Garnet Kwan-Yue Choi[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Herman Tse[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yijie Wu[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Te Miao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wenzhao Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hua Qian[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Fan Xue[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Yuguo Li[SUP] 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39509873
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136388
The lack of knowledge on quanta generation rates presents a major obstacle to specifying the minimum ventilation required to prevent airborne infections. The expected largest quanta generation rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by a super-spreader remains unknown. Here we investigated a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak during lunch in a restaurant using epidemiological, whole-genome sequencing and environmental analyses. Both tracer gas and fine particles were used in field experiments to quantify aerosol dispersion and removal across three interconnected zones: Zone A, Zone B and Zone C. All 21 secondary patron infections occurred in Zone B. This unique infection feature and measured dilution flow rates allowed us to estimate the largest reported quanta generation rates to date, ranging from 1724 to 1968 quanta/h. These rates were sufficiently high to cause a high attack rate in Zone B but did not cause infections in Zones A and C, likely due to sufficient dilution and insignificant contaminated airflow from Zone B, respectively. Our finding of the largest quanta generation rate so far suggests that avoiding secondary infection by dilution alone in the presence of a super-emitter might not be possible in typical air-conditioned buildings and other prevention strategies need to be developed.
Keywords: Airborne transmission; COVID-19; FCU filtration; Minimum ventilation requirement; Quanta generation rate.