Masks protect, especially from the delta variant
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Masks are a pain. After more than a year and a half of the pandemic, we are all tired of wearing them. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to do it anyway. A new scientific study confirms that the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is even more airborne than the original variant.
Air transfer means
- both droplet infection through relatively large droplets that become airborne through "moist pronunciation", coughing, sneezing
- as well as aerosol transmission. Aerosols are the finest droplets in a gas with a diameter of less than 5 µm.
Medical face masks (= surgical masks) reduce the droplets and aerosols released into the air by the wearer of the mask. Respirators (= FFP masks) also protect the wearer of the mask very well against droplets and aerosols from third parties. This is especially true indoors, where aerosols containing viruses can remain suspended in the air for hours.
Increased aerosol transmission for B.1.1.7 (alpha variant) over lineage A variant of SARS-CoV-2
Quelle: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.26.453518v1
Port JR, Yinda CK, Avanzato VA, Schulz JE, Holbrook MG, van Doremalen N, Shaia C, Fischer RJ, Munster VJ. Increased aerosol transmission for B.1.1.7 (alpha variant) over lineage A variant of SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Jul 26:2021.07.26.453518. doi: 10.1101/2021.07.26.453518. PMID: 34341792; PMCID: PMC8328059.
Abstract
Airborne transmission, a term that encompasses both large droplet and aerosol transmission, is considered to be the main route of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated the relative efficiency of aerosol transmission of two variants of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7 (alpha) and line A, in the Syrian hamster. A novel transmission cage was developed and validated, which allowed the evaluation of transmission efficiency at different distances. At a distance of 2 metres, only particles <5 µm passed between the cages. In this experimental set-up, aerosol transmission was confirmed in 8 out of 8 (N = 4 for each variant) sentinels after 24 hours of exposure, as evidenced by respiratory excretion and seroconversion. Successful transmission occurred even when exposure time was limited to one hour, underscoring the efficiency of this route of transmission. Interestingly, the B.1.1.7 variant displaced the lineage A variant in an airborne transmission chain following mixed donor infection. Taken together, these data suggest that the infectious dose of B.1.1.7 virus required for successful transmission may be lower than that of lineage A virus. The experimental evidence of true aerosol transmission and the increase in aerosol transmission potential of B.1.1.7 underscore the ongoing need to evaluate novel variants and develop preventive strategies to contain transmission.