Wednesday, May 25, 2022
  • Hyderabad
  • Telangana
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • India
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Science and Tech
  • Sport
  • Business
  • ...
    • NRI
    • View Point
    • cartoon
    • Columns
    • Reviews
    • Education Today
    • Property
    • Videos
    • Lifestyle
E-Paper
  • NRI
  • View Point
  • cartoon
  • Columns
  • Reviews
  • Education Today
  • Property
  • Videos
  • Lifestyle
Home | Health | Scientists Unravel What Makes Some People Covid 19 Super Spreaders

Scientists unravel what makes some people COVID-19 super-spreaders

By PTI
Published: Published Date - 01:32 PM, Thu - 11 February 21
A woman wearing a face mask walks next to a painted wall in Bogota, Colombia. According to the researchers, exhaled aerosol particles vary greatly between subjects, depending on their age, state of viral infection, and body mass index (BMI).

Boston: Obesity, age, and the state of COVID-19 infection influence the number of virus particles an infected person breathes out, according to a new study which says these factors determine if a person becomes a super-spreader of the virus.

The observational study, published in the journal PNAS, assessed 194 healthy people and also examined the findings of an experimental study of nonhuman primates with COVID-19.

According to the researchers, including those from Harvard University in the US, exhaled aerosol particles vary greatly between subjects, depending on their age, state of viral infection, and body mass index (BMI).

Body mass index is the ratio of a person’s weight to the square of their height in metres, and the scientists said older people with a higher BMI and an increasing degree of COVID-19 infection had three times the number of exhaled respiratory droplets as others in the study groups.

The analysis revealed that 18 per cent of the human subjects accounted for 80 per cent of the exhaled particles of the group — reflecting a distribution of exhaled aerosol particles that follows the 20/80 rule.

According to this rule, which is seen in other infectious disease epidemics, 20 per cent of infected individuals are responsible for 80 per cent of transmissions.

The scientists also found that the aerosol droplets in nonhuman primates increased as infection with COVID-19 progressed, reaching peak levels a week after infection before falling to normal after two weeks.

As infection with COVID-19 progressed, they said the viral particles got smaller, reaching the size of a single micron at the peak of infection.

These tiny particles, the researchers said, are more likely to be expelled as people breathe, talk or cough and can also stay afloat much longer, travel farther in the air and penetrate deeper into the lungs when inhaled.

They said the increase in exhaled aerosols occurred even among those with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19.

“We’ve seen a similar increase in droplets during the acute infection stage with other infectious diseases like tuberculosis,” said Chad Roy, a co-author of the study from Tulane National Primate Research Center in the US.

“It seems likely that viral and bacterial infections of the airway can weaken airway mucus, which promotes the movement of infectious particles into this environment,” Roy said.

While the findings suggested that young and healthy people tend to generate far fewer droplets than the older and less healthy, the researchers cautioned that any individual, when infected with the coronavirus, may be at risk of producing a large number of respiratory droplets.

They said further studies are needed to determine other factors which may influence the quantity of virus particles an infected person may spread.

“Understanding the source and variance of respiratory droplet generation, and controlling it via the stabilisation of airway lining mucus surfaces, may lead to effective approaches to reducing COVID-19 infection and transmission,” the scientists wrote in the study.

  • Follow Us :
  • Tags
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid-19
  • COVID-19 infection
  • Covid-19 super-spreaders

Related News

  • India logs 1,675 Covid cases in a day, 31 deaths

  • Saudi Arabia bans citizens from travelling to 16 nations, including India

  • India records 2,022 new COVID-19 infections, 46 fatalities

  • India announces squad for fifth test against England, Pujara returns after successful county stint

  • India records 2,226 new COVID-19 infections, 65 fatalities

  • ‘Developing infra holds key to success of medicine from sky’

Latest News

  • Telangana tops in demand for laptops

    12 mins ago
  • ‘Veerula Gudi’ found in Wanaparthy

    18 mins ago
  • Kothagudem: MCH centre gets RO, oxygen plants

    1 hour ago
  • TS BIE notifies fee data for private candidates

    1 hour ago
  • KTR invites Roche to invest in Telangana

    2 hours ago
  • Hyderabad: Family attempts suicide in lodge; all safe

    2 hours ago
  • Beneficiaries of land regularisation entitled to get all rights: Indrakaran Reddy

    2 hours ago
  • Video of determined girl hopping to school on one leg goes viral

    2 hours ago

company

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

business

  • Subscribe

telangana today

  • Telangana
  • Hyderabad
  • Latest News
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Science & Tech
  • Sport

follow us

© Copyrights 2022 TELANGANA PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. All rights reserved. Powered by Veegam