Mezzo-soprano Mary Hughes at the Metropolitan Opera in New York sings in front of an aerosol measurement chamber. Provided by the University of Colorado
According to the international scientific journal Nature on the 17th (local time), people infected with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) omicron, alpha, and delta mutations exhale much higher amounts of the virus than those infected with other mutations. The research results were published on the 29th of last month on Med Archive, a site for pre-publication of medical papers.
A team of researchers at the University of Colorado in the United States collected aerosols emitted by 94 participants infected with each mutation of COVID-19 between 2000 and 2002. Participants sang and shouted for 30 minutes, often coughing and sneezing during the process. The research team secured a fine aerosol of less than 5 micrometers (μm, 1 millionth of a meter) emitted in this way.
As a result of the analysis, an average of five times more viruses were detected in the aerosols of participants infected with the alpha, delta, and omicron mutations than the corona 19 protovirus or those infected with the previous mutation.
The amount of virus contained in the aerosol also varied between individuals. In the aerosols of one of the participants with the omicron mutation, more than 1,000 times more viruses than those infected with the alpha and delta mutations were detected.
The research team explained that infection by aerosols is possible even in everyday life. The collected aerosol was sprayed on the cells in the laboratory, and it was confirmed that some cells were infected with the samples of the omicron and delta mutants. In an experiment with a conversation environment in a restaurant, it was found that the possibility of infection through aerosols was sufficient.
Christine Coleman, a researcher at the University of Maryland in the U.S., co-author of the paper on the study, said, “To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the government should invest in ventilation and filtration systems that improve indoor air quality.”
