Jovialis
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You don't have to cough or sneeze to spread the highly infectious flu virus according to a new study. The University of Maryland suggests the flu may be passed on through infected individuals simply breathing.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-01-flu-required.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-01-flu-required.html
Abstract
There is little prior data on influenza virus shedding into, and the infectiousness of exhaled aerosols, contributing to uncertainty about the importance of airborne influenza transmission. We screened 355 volunteers with acute respiratory illness and report 142 cases with confirmed influenza infection who provided 218 paired nasopharyngeal (NP) and 30-minute breath samples (coarse >5 um and fine <=5 um fractions) on days 1 to 3 post symptom onset. We assessed viral RNA copy number for all samples and cultured the NP swabs and fine aerosols. We recovered infectious virus from 52 (39%) of the fine aerosols and 150 (89%) of the NP swabs with valid cultures. The geometric mean RNA copy numbers were 3.8x104/30-min fine, 1.2x104/30-min coarse aerosol sample, and 8.2x108 per NP swab. Fine and coarse aerosol viral RNA was positively associated with body mass index (fine p<0.05, coarse p<0.10) and number of coughs (fine p<0.001, coarse p<0.01) and negatively associated with increasing days since symptom onset (fine p<0.05 to p<0.01, coarse p<0.10) in adjusted models. Fine aerosol viral RNA was also positively associated with having influenza vaccination for both the current and prior season (p<0.01). NP swab viral RNA was positively associated with upper respiratory symptoms (p<0.01) and negatively associated with age (p<0.01) but was not significantly associated with fine or coarse aerosol viral RNA or their predictors. Sneezing was rare, and sneezing and coughing were not necessary for infectious aerosol generation. Our observations suggest that influenza infection in the upper and lower airways are compartmentalized and independent.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/03/194985