tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Open Forum Infect Dis
. 2021 Dec 1;9(1)
fab600.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab600. eCollection 2022 Jan.
Variation in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Bioaerosol Production in Exhaled Breath
Renu Verma[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eugene Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Degner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Katharine S Walter[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Upinder Singh[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Jason R Andrews[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
We developed a simple, noninvasive mask sampling method to quantify and sequence severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from exhaled breath. We found substantial variation between individuals in SARS-CoV-2 copies exhaled over a 15-minute period, which moderately correlated with nasal swab viral load. Talking was associated with a median of 2 log[SUB]10[/SUB] greater exhaled viral copies. Exposure varies substantially between individuals but may be risk stratified by nasal swab viral load and whether the exposure involved conversation.
Keywords: COVID-19; exhaled breath; gelatin masks; infectiousness; whole-genome sequencing.
. 2021 Dec 1;9(1)
fab600.doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab600. eCollection 2022 Jan.
Variation in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Bioaerosol Production in Exhaled Breath
Renu Verma[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eugene Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Degner[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Katharine S Walter[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Upinder Singh[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Jason R Andrews[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35028332
- PMCID: PMC8753034
- DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofab600
Abstract
We developed a simple, noninvasive mask sampling method to quantify and sequence severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from exhaled breath. We found substantial variation between individuals in SARS-CoV-2 copies exhaled over a 15-minute period, which moderately correlated with nasal swab viral load. Talking was associated with a median of 2 log[SUB]10[/SUB] greater exhaled viral copies. Exposure varies substantially between individuals but may be risk stratified by nasal swab viral load and whether the exposure involved conversation.
Keywords: COVID-19; exhaled breath; gelatin masks; infectiousness; whole-genome sequencing.
