Heavy breaths can be Covid-19 SUPERSPREADERS – with obese and old people the worst offenders
- U.S. researchers evaluate depleted aerosol particles from nearly 200 people
- Primate was also infected with Covid to see how infection changes production
- BMI, age and Covid infection were linked to increased aerosol production
- 80% of the aerosols were manufactured by 18% of the people, which meets the definition of a superspreader event
It has long been known that the spreaders are responsible for the vast majority of coronavirus infections, and now a study has found that heavy breathing is likely to be to blame.
The data show that more than 80 percent of all exhaled aerosol particles are produced by less than one in five people, which meets the technical definition for superspreaders.
These small particles can carry viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which cause Covid-19, and are so small that they float around a room and linger for a few minutes.
Elderly people, people with a large BMI, and infected cases are probably a heavy respiratory system that emits large amounts of infectious particles, the research shows.
Investigations and people with a large BMI are more likely to be heavy breathers who inject large amounts of infectious particles, the research shows.
The first part of the study measured the number of particles per individual per liter and compared it with a combination of their age and BMI.
It has shown a strong link between age and BMI with increased production of exhaled aerosols, suggesting that obese and older people are the worst offenders because they are a strong distributor.
The study’s authors say that the study reveals a classic superspreading 20:80 distribution.
The so-called 80:20 rule means that at least 80 percent of the infections must be caused by no more than 20 percent of the people to be considered scientifically as a super-spreading event.
“The phenomenon of the over-distribution of COVID-19 may not only be a matter of air currents and the proximity of infected and naive hosts, but also of phenotype,” the scientists wrote in their article published in PNAS.
Exhalation of 194 health people were studied by scientists from Harvard, MIT and Tulane University.
They also deliberately gave Covid to eight monkeys to see if coronavirus infection affected the amount of aerosols produced.
In their study, the authors write that the Covid-19 particles produced by infected primates rise to a crescendo a week after infection before returning to normal after two weeks, in a similar way to humans.
Data show that more than 80 percent of all exhaled aerosol particles are produced by less than one in five people. These small particles can carry viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which cause Covid-19, and are so small that they float around a room and linger for a few minutes (stock)
The increase in exhaled aerosols even occurred among asymptomatic cases of Covid-19, says Dr. Chad Roy, corresponding author of the Tulane study.
“It seems likely that viral and bacterial infections in the airways can weaken airway mucus, which promotes the movement of infectious particles to this environment,” he said.
Lead author Dr. David Edwards, of Harvard, believes how many breathing drops a person changes, depending on their body and health.
‘While our results show that young and healthy tend to generate far fewer drops than the older and less healthy, it also shows that any of us, if we are infected by COVID-19, run the risk of a large number of respiratory to produce drops, ‘he said.
Previous research has revealed that runners can also be the spreaders of the virus.
A video, created by Professor Bert Blocken and Fabio Malizia (KU Leuven & Technology University Eiondhoven (TU / e) and powered by the simulation technology company Ansys), showed that droplets can spread more than six feet behind you while walking, running or cycling.
“If 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, chief health engineer at Ansys, told DailyMail.com.
‘But when someone sneezes or coughs, it happens so fast and the droplets are so small, [the simulation gets] that mental image in your mind of how far you need to stand so that gravity has time to pull down the drops. ‘