Evidence of Airborne Transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus
Ignatius Tak-sun Yu,Yuguo Li,Tze Wai Wong,Wilson W.S. Tam,Andy Chan,Joseph H.W. Lee,Dennis Y.C. Leung,Thomas C. Ho +7 more
TLDR
Airborne spread of the virus appears to explain this large community outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong, and future efforts at prevention and control must take into consideration the potential for airborne spread of this virus.Abstract:
background There is uncertainty about the mode of transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. We analyzed the temporal and spatial distributions of cases in a large community outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong and examined the correlation of these data with the three-dimensional spread of a virus-laden aerosol plume that was modeled using studies of airflow dynamics. methods We determined the distribution of the initial 187 cases of SARS in the Amoy Gardens housing complex in 2003 according to the date of onset and location of residence. We then studied the association between the location (building, floor, and direction the apartment unit faced) and the probability of infection using logistic regression. The spread of the airborne, virus-laden aerosols generated by the index patient was modeled with the use of airflow-dynamics studies, including studies performed with the use of computational fluid-dynamics and multizone modeling. results The curves of the epidemic suggested a common source of the outbreak. All but 5 patients lived in seven buildings (A to G), and the index patient and more than half the other patients with SARS (99 patients) lived in building E. Residents of the floors at the middle and upper levels in building E were at a significantly higher risk than residents on lower floors; this finding is consistent with a rising plume of contaminated warm air in the air shaft generated from a middle-level apartment unit. The risks for the different units matched the virus concentrations predicted with the use of multizone modeling. The distribution of risk in buildings B, C, and D corresponded well with the three-dimensional spread of virus-laden aerosols predicted with the use of computational fluiddynamics modeling. conclusions Airborne spread of the virus appears to explain this large community outbreak of SARS, and future efforts at prevention and control must take into consideration the potential for airborne spread of this virus.read more
Citations
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Adopting 'lift-up' building design to improve the surrounding pedestrian-level wind environment.
Kimtim Tse,Xuelin Zhang,A.U. Weerasuriya,Sunwei Li,Kenny C. S Kwok,Cheuk Ming Mak,Jianlei Niu +6 more
TL;DR: The results reveal that the ‘lift-up’ core height is the most influential parameter and governs the area and magnitude of high and low wind speed zones around such buildings.
Journal ArticleDOI
Insufficient ventilation led to a probable long-range airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on two buses
Cuiyun Ou,K Pollard,Shixiong Hu,Kaiwei Luo,Hongyu Yang,Jian Hang,Pan Cheng,Zheng Hai,Shanliang Xiao,Hua Qian,Shenglan Xiao,Xinping Jing,Zhengshen Xie,Hong Ling,Li Liu,Lidong Gao,Qihong Deng,Benjamin J. Cowling,Yuguo Li +18 more
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper analyzed a COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020 in Hunan Province, China, involving an infected 24-year-old man, Mr. X, taking two subsequent buses, B1 and B2, in the same afternoon.
Journal ArticleDOI
Insufficient ventilation led to a probable long-range airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on two buses
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper analyzed a COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020 in Hunan Province, China, involving an infected 24-year-old man, Mr. X, taking two subsequent buses, B1 and B2, in the same afternoon.
Journal ArticleDOI
SARS-CoV-2 presented in the air of an intensive care unit (ICU).
Tingxu Jin,Jun Li,Jun Yang,Jiawei Li,Feng Hong,Hai Long,Qihong Deng,Yong Qin,Jiajun Jiang,Xuan Zhou,Qian Song,Chunliu Pan,Peng Luo +12 more
TL;DR: There is a need for improved clinical and disease management guidelines for recovered COVID-19 patients during the recovery period, because SARS-CoV-2 particles may be shed in aerosol form for days after patients test negative, and this finding may be one of the reasons for the observation of RP patients.
Journal ArticleDOI
COVID-19 Impact on Operation and Energy Consumption of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) Systems
Wandong Zheng,Jingfan Hu,Zhaoying Wang,Jinbo Li,Zheng Fu,Han Li,Jakub Jurasz,Siaw Kiang Chou,Jinyue Yan +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review of the airborne transmission characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in enclosed spaces and a theoretical basis for HVAC operation guideline revision.
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