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Covid-19: How Dangerous Is Inhaling Aerosols?


In a minimal dose

The good news for virologists is that it dries in the air Corona virus quickly out. However, they also explain that in the laboratory, viable viruses could still be detected in a minimal dose after three hours.

The National Academy of Medicine in the USA reports that Covid-19 through Aerosols, the Infected exhale, could be spread. However, the tests used for the detection could not determine whether the viruses are still contagious and whether their amount would be enough for an infection.

Apart from this rather academic discussion, the environmental physician is trying Hans-Peter Hutter from the MedUni Vienna for objectification. In fact, microaerosols (tiny water vapor droplets) would be created when speaking and breathing. The danger of going through the Aerosols To be infected in the air, especially over long distances, is low.

However, it becomes dangerous if someone coughs and the concentrated load of viruses is spread beyond the spitting distance: “The number of viruses in a coughed-up droplet is significantly higher,” explains the virologist Norbert Nowotny from VetMed Uni Vienna.

When asked to what extent this is dangerous, explained Nowotny: “It is currently still unclear how many virus particles a person has to get in order to become infected.” One particle on the mucous membranes alone is not enough.

Graphic: The age of the Covid dead in Austria

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