/pdf/the-lancet-commission-on-lessons-for-the-future-from-the-3b11rs1e.pdf

The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe pandemic caused by a respiratory virus since the 1918 influenza pandemic. As is the case with other respiratory viruses, three modes of transmission have been invoked: contact (direct and through fomites), large droplets and aerosols. This narrative review makes the case that aerosol transmission is an important mode for COVID-19, through reviewing studies about bioaerosol physiology, detection of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in exhaled bioaerosols, prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infectivity persistence in aerosols created in the laboratory, detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air samples, investigation of outbreaks with manifest involvement of aerosols, and animal model experiments. SARS-CoV-2 joins influenza A virus as a virus with proven pandemic capacity that can be spread by the aerosol route. This has profound implications for the control of the current pandemic and for future pandemic preparedness.

COVID-19: the case for aerosol transmission

Ventilation regimes of school classrooms against airborne transmission of infectious respiratory droplets: A review

Current infection control guidelines subscribe to a contact/droplet/airborne paradigm that is based on outdated understanding. Here, we propose to modify and align existing guidelines with a more accurate description of the different transmission routes. This will improve the effectiveness of control measures as more transmissible variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge.

W van den Bos

Papers

Close proximity risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 infection.