{"id":226220,"date":"2020-08-18T13:53:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T17:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=226220"},"modified":"2020-08-18T13:53:01","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T17:53:01","slug":"study-finds-viruses-can-spread-through-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/science-cuba\/study-finds-viruses-can-spread-through-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds Viruses Can Spread Through Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Virus particles usually spread on the air through dust, fibers, and other microscopic particles, according to an investigation carried out by the University of California at Davis (United States) and published in the journal Nature Communications<\/em><\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The findings have important implications for understanding how flu and the new coronavirus<\/a> are transmitted.<\/p>\n

The flu virus is thought to be spread indirectly from the droplets that someone breathes out or through objects called fomites, such as doorknobs or used tissues.<\/p>\n

However, little was known about which forms of infection are the most important until now, and, depending on the type of virus (flu or coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV2), the form of infection may be different.<\/p>\n

William Ristenpart, Chemical Engineering professor at the University of California, noted that airborne transmission was previously thought to occur due to respiratory droplets emitted by coughing, sneezing, or talking. That is why transmission through the dust “opens up entirely new areas of research and has profound implications for the way laboratory experiments and epidemiological investigations of outbreaks are interpreted”.<\/p>\n

The research also studied whether small non-respiratory particles called “aerosol fomites” could carry the flu virus among guinea pigs.<\/p>\n

“It is shocking to most virologists and epidemiologists that airborne dust, rather than expiratory droplets, can carry the influenza virus capable of infecting animals”, Ristenpart said.<\/p>\n

\u00bfCoronavirus por el aire?\u00a0Nasobucos s\u00ed, y otras cosas tambi\u00e9n<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n