3 ms·
Well that March 2020 quote is still correct, isn't it? You as a layperson just think that airborne means something it doesn't mean for virologists (aerosol tran
by bildung 5y ago
Well that March 2020 quote is still correct, isn't it? You as a layperson just think that airborne means something it doesn't mean for virologists (aerosol transmission <> airborne virus).
So the tweet certainly was a typical science communication error, i.e. they forgot that words can have different meanings in different milieus, but it wasn't wrong.
- maxerickson 5y agohttps://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-t... seems to use airborne to mean transmission in small droplets. Airborne transmission is different from droplet transmission as it refers to the presence of microbes within droplet nuclei, which are generally considered to be particles <5μm in diameter, can remain in the air for long periods of time and be transmitted to others over distances greater than 1 m.
- bildung 5y agoThe same article then also goes on to reason why this doesn't seem to be the dominant way of transmission outside special circumstances (like ventilation). I don't have a background in this topic at all, but apparently actual airborne viruses are really small: Measles is about 200 nm and Influenza about 100 nm in diameter, while Sars-Cov-2 is about 1000 nm, so 5 to 10 times the diameter and thus 100 to 1000 times the mass.
- maxerickson 5y agoMy point is that the WHO is literally, in recent releases, contradicting the usage you claim was primarily a communication error. Their measles info page doesn't even talk about airborne. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles