TOO MUCH COMPELLING DATA EXISTS TO DISMISS AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION OF INFECTION ANY LONGER
We recently attended a CDC workshop in Washington DC on nosocomial infections. The head of a modern hospital system categorically stated that there is no evidence to support airborne transmission. We agreed with him that perhaps no study has been done that meets the academic rigor needed to prove it as absolute law, but there certainly is some compelling data and evidence to suggest his stance is wrong. We challenged him to return to his hospital and turn off the electricity because that remains simply a theory. Clearly, that wouldn't work so well. Theories examine what happens and then tell us how and why something happens. And they are, and should be, constantly tested.
Anecdotal evidence and compelling number of studies tell us infections indeed can be transferred via the air. There certainly is more than enough to suggest that it's not only possible but likely, and further study and examination is warranted. An article recently published in the Public Library of Science – Concentration, Size Distribution, and Infectivity of Airborne Particles Carrying Swine Virus – by members of the veterinarian community, which has led many of the studies relating to airborne infection, provides some evidence. Among their findings:
• Particles of small size can remain suspended in the air for long periods, potentially exposing a large number of susceptible individuals, including those close to the source and those at greater distances.
• The study indicated that virus-associated particles disperse simultaneously across a wide range of particle sizes. This is important because it shows that viruses in airborne particles emitted or generated by animals can be transmitted simultaneously across both short and long distances.
• Determining the particle size distribution for both respiratory and enteric viruses has important implications for the control of animal and human diseases and the use of droplet and airborne infection control measures.
• The information generated in this study is especially important to design effective airborne disease control programs for both enteric and respiratory viruses, including mitigation of occupational exposure of zoonotic pathogens. Changes in recommendations to protect from airborne viruses should be considered based on exposure to particles of different sizes.
Certainly some of what these researchers found at the least should motivate us to look more closely at how and why theories on airborne infection should be scrutinized more closely. We can't categorically dismiss the possibilities as this hospital leader did. It's time we take these issues much more seriously.
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