How did we get here: what are droplets and aerosols and how far do they go? A historical perspective on the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases
Name
rsfs.2021.0049.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
671.39 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1d4fbbcd471dd4d6a3157f7e37fd3bd8
Author(s)
Randall, K
Ewing, ET
Marr, LC
Jimenez, JL
Bourouiba, L
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Interface Focus
Publisher
The Royal Society
Citation
Randall, K, Ewing, ET, Marr, LC, Jimenez, JL and Bourouiba, L. 2021. "How did we get here: what are droplets and aerosols and how far do they go? A historical perspective on the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases." Interface Focus, 11 (6).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed major gaps in our understanding of the transmission of viruses through the air. These gaps slowed recognition of airborne transmission of the disease, contributed to muddled public health policies and impeded clear messaging on how best to slow transmission of COVID-19. In particular, current recommendations have been based on four tenets: (i) respiratory disease transmission routes can be viewed mostly in a binary manner of ‘droplets’ versus ‘aerosols’; (ii) this dichotomy depends on droplet size alone; (iii) the cut-off size between these routes of transmission is 5 µm; and (iv) there is a dichotomy in the distance at which transmission by each route is relevant. Yet, a relationship between these assertions is not supported by current scientific knowledge. Here, we revisit the historical foundation of these notions, and how they became entangled from the 1800s to today, with a complex interplay among various fields of science and medicine. This journey into the past highlights potential solutions for better collaboration and integration of scientific results into practice for building a more resilient society with more sound, far-sighted and effective public health policies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1098/RSFS.2021.0049
