Indoor Model Simulation for COVID-19 Transport and Exposure.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(6)2021 03 12.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33809366
ABSTRACT
Transmission of respiratory viruses is a complex process involving emission, deposition in the airways, and infection. Inhalation is often the most relevant transmission mode in indoor environments. For severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the risk of inhalation transmission is not yet fully understood. Here, we used an indoor aerosol model combined with a regional inhaled deposited dose model to examine the indoor transport of aerosols from an infected person with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to a susceptible person and assess the potential inhaled dose rate of particles. Two scenarios with different ventilation rates were compared, as well as adult female versus male recipients. Assuming a source strength of 10 viruses/s, in a tightly closed room with poor ventilation (0.5 h-1), the respiratory tract deposited dose rate was 140-350 and 100-260 inhaled viruses/hour for males and females; respectively. With ventilation at 3 h-1 the dose rate was only 30-90 viruses/hour. Correcting for the half-life of SARS-CoV-2 in air, these numbers are reduced by a factor of 1.2-2.2 for poorly ventilated rooms and 1.1-1.4 for well-ventilated rooms. Combined with future determinations of virus emission rates, the size distribution of aerosols containing the virus, and the infectious dose, these results could play an important role in understanding the full picture of potential inhalation transmission in indoor environments.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Coronavirus Infections
/
Coronavirus
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Environ Res Public Health
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jordan