CDC Warns of Aerosolized COVID-19 Transmission for First Time

[babylonsister]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cdc-warns-of-aerosolized-covid-19-transmission-for-first-time?ref=home

CDC Warns of Aerosolized COVID-19 Transmission for First Time
PLEASE MAKE IT STOP
Justin Rohrlich
Published May. 07, 2021 6:14PM ET
Lindsey Wasson/File Photo via Reuters

U.S. public health officials have finally revised existing public guidance about the novel coronavirus, acknowledging for the first time that people can get infected by inhaling aerosolized particles hanging in the air in addition to “direct splashes or sprays” from an infected person directly onto a mucus membrane, The New York Times reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now warn that airborne transmission is a vector for contagion, warning for the first time that even staying six feet away from others may not be enough. “C.D.C. has now caught up to the latest scientific evidence, and they’ve gotten rid of some old problematic terms and thinking about how transmission occurs,” Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech, told the paper. University of Maryland aerosol scientist Donald Milton said there should be a “better focus on good respirators” for those forced to work in close quarters. “A surgical mask, even if it’s tucked in on the edges, is still not really going to give you enough protection if you’re in a meatpacking plant elbow to elbow all day long with other people,” he said.

[soothsayer]

1. Well I'm glad they've finally caught up with this

[Ms. Toad]

2. Yup.

Months late to the game . . .

I generally agree that there's not much difference between 3' and 6' as to droplets. BUT - aerosolized matter lingers and floats on air currents much farther than 6'.

[DanieRains]

4. Like A Fart

[misanthrope]

25. Or cigarette smoke

Think about how far away you can smell smokers.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Exactly!!! JHC it's May!!!

[Takket]

3. this has been known since the beginning of the pandemic. heck, before the pandemic

everyone knows viruses, any kind that are airborne, can be inhaled if you share the same airspace as someone that is sick.

The CDC just acknowledged this? I mean... this is kind of terrifying. It's like reading an article that the Society of Structural Engineers just got on board with the idea of using steel in skyscrapers instead of toothpicks. i mean, how can this not be known?

[WA-03 Democrat]

5. I agree. This has been confirmed for at least 12 months by good studies.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

7. Trump admitted ON TAPE with Woodward that he knew

virus airborne and deadly in Jan 2020 but hid it!

This! No impeachment?????

If you read back history with the founders, that was the one of the biggest themes - protecting/not harming US citizens.

[HUAJIAO]

8. Everybody who posted thus far is right on the money of what I was going to say.

JHC! Scientists, you and I have know this for over a year.

I've been following these principals since the beginning...
Who among the RW wackjobs is going to believe this now?
Where the fuck has the CDC been? Well, don't answer that.

[SoCalDavidS]

9. A Little Late

It wouldn't have mattered a single bit for the non-believers. It would have made those who were genuinely concerned about the virus, even more cautious and careful, which would have been a good thing.

If anything, it would have made those on the right, who think the whole thing is a joke, even more convinced of that.

[canetoad]

10. Maybe I'm going mad

But could swear that we all knew this a year or so ago. Maybe it was from a source, other than the CDC but I'm sure this method of transmission has been reported.

Sis, it's Saturday arvo and I'm currently watching a bootleg of Friday's Rachel Maddow show. And I'm thinking that Hitler did the world a favour by off-ing himself. Trump is like the bloody pox. The scourge that keeps on giving.

Hope you humans/animals are well and in good health.

[wnylib]

11. I remember reading early into

the pandemic that the particles were "heavy" droplets and not likely to spread far. It could be that continued mutations have made the particles lighter and more aerosolized. That would account for the higher transmission rates of strains like the UK version. Viruses mutate constantly. There are many minor mutations besides the ones identified by regions like the UK and South Africa.

It might be that the trend in mutations since the virus first developed has been toward lighter, more aerosolized transmission. That would make the virus not only more easily spread, but able to deliver a higher viral load on infection because there would be more particles inhaled. A higher viral load means a worse case of covid, able to multiply in the human body at a rate that challenges the immune system's ability to produce enough antibodies fast enough to defeat it.

[Ms. Toad]

16. Nope. CDC is just late to the game. N/t

[wnylib]

17. You seem very sure of that, but I'm not.

[Ms. Toad]

19. I am very sure of it.

We have known for well more than year that COVID was transmitted by aerosolized matter. This is the FIRST statement from the CDC warning about this mode of transmission.

The mutations do not alter the essence of how the virus moves through the world. The coronavirus always moves through the world bonded to something else. It attaches itself to water droplets or aerosols (mucus, protein, other biological material). The virus itelf is about .125 microns (ranging from .06 to .14). The virus (mutated or not) are a fraction of the size of the particle they hitch a ride on. The droplets or aerosolized matter the virus attaches itself to in order to travel are about 1 micron

What these mutations alter are how the virus interacts with our cells.

They alter the spike proteins in a way that makes them "stickier," which makes it attach easier to the cells, creating a higher viral load in the nose and throat - which means that exhaling spreads more of them around as droplets or aerosolized matter. Becaue it more easily latches onto and enters human cells - it also copies itself faster.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55404988
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/11/fact-check-n-95-filters-not-too-large-stop-covid-19-particles/5343537002/

[wnylib]

23. Thanks for explaining it.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. I Agree On The Knowns

But, the droplets/particles being discussed are not viruses.
The droplets are a mix of condensing water & mucous.
Mutating a virus doesn't change the physics of the droplets.
There's also nothing to suggest that mutations change the concentration of viruses in a particle. The density doesn't change by any degree that would account for changes in viral load per particle or particle behavior in a fluid (air).
But, the CDC pushing masks was more an acknowledgement of the reality than is being portrayed here.
They've only had a new boss who let's them say what they want/need to for 110 days.
This "late to the game" stuff is overstated.

[Ms. Toad]

20. Late to the game is completely accurate -

You are right as to the reason they are late to the game. But it it doesn't alter the FACT that they are more than a year late to the game. The reality is that we had a science denier in control of things, who caused a lot of harm. As indicated by the person to whom you responded - who is connecting this announcement to the mutations - we risk spreading more misinformation/misimpressions when we ignore the fact that this was known for more than a year.

As to masks being an implicit acknowledgment - not really. Once the government started pushing masks, they were frequently pushed in connection with the 6' (theoretical) distance limitation for droplets. The phrase that gives this away is the number of times government officials used the phrase, "Wear a mask when you can't stay 6' apart," which was premised on the theoretical distance that droplets (not aerosolized matter) could travel. I spent a lot of time yelling at the computer screen whenever Trump & Co. uttered that phrase.

Six feet is not protection for aerosolized matter, which lingers in the air (so the person who expelled it could be well more than 6' down the road when you encounter it) and which are also much more efficient at traveling a long distance on air currents.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. We'll Agree To Disagree

And, I already mentioned the reason they were handcuffed.
I also disagree with your physics on the nature of aerosolized matter. Diffusion & gravity still have their expected effects, despite the high surface to mass ratio of microscopic particles.
And, since the physics of mass transfer is within my area of both academic & professional expertise, I'm going to stick with my conclusions.

[Ms. Toad]

24. We're not disagreeing on the physics.

What we are disagreeing on is the fact of being late to the game (versus WHY they were late).

The reality of being late doesn't change merely because you have an explanation for why you were late. If your reason is good enough you are still late, it's just excused.

[wnylib]

31. Thanks. I agree that the late to acknowledge

complaint seems over stated.

I can see from what you've posted that the virus and its mutstions are separate from the fluid droplets.

But I wonder why some viruses, like flu, seem to be more associated with transmission via larger droplets while others, like chicken pox, are associated with finer, aerosolized transmission.

Shouldn't the principles of aerosolizing viruses by speaking, singing, etc. be the same regardless of what the virus is, since the material of a droplet and the virus are separate things?

[yardwork]

28. The virus has spread through aerosol since the beginning.

The WHO and CDC have been way behind on this.

[GulfCoast66]

12. This does not mean that the virus is free floating like measles can. And is why we wear masks!

We’ve known that coughing, sneezing and even breathing can aerosolize out spit. Masks reduce it to a great extent but no one claimed it totally eliminated it. N95 masks reduce the chances even more.

But I got my second shot 5 weeks ago. No more a worry for me than driving to work.

[yardwork]

29. In fact, this virus is free floating.

[GulfCoast66]

30. No it's not. Not like measles where the virus alone can float around.

It it mucus and saliva that becomes
Aerosolized carrying the virus. We’ve known that for almost a year. If the virus were free floating they would not be considered Aerosolized. That is why masks reduce the risk. If they were free floating masks would be useless.

But regardless, you get your vaccine, aerosolized or not, you are safe.

[wnylib]

32. I'd modify the word "safe" to "safer" for vaccinations.

The vaccinations are good, but not 100% good.

[GulfCoast66]

33. I say safe. The numbers are coming in. And if you are vaccinated you aren't getting Covid.

100 million fully vaccinated Americans. 10,000 breakthrough cases. Less than 150 deaths. Most old and at risk.

Your odds of getting killed or injured driving are worse than getting or dying from Covid if you are vaccinated.

We have rightly derided those that denied science and rejected wearing masks and distancing and staying home as much as possible. We risk becoming them when we get people vaccinated and then reject the science that says once vaccinated we are not at risk. I’m still wearing my mask to be a team player.

But once every American who wants the jab has it I’m done. Because I look to science.

Science has given us great vaccines and the are incredibly effective. Democrats deny that our peril.

By August the economy will be fully opened and masks will no longer be required.

[wnylib]

34. Your sentence that says, "Most old and at risk"

applies to me. So, "safe" for most, but "safer" for those of us who are so easily discounted.

[budkin]

13. We've known this since March 2020

Why are they acting like this is new?

[Klaralven]

14. Over a year ago, there was a paper out of China that showed this

A person on a bus infected other passengers seated several rows away.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

15. As many epidemiologists warned...

... for over a year, with evidence from case studies.

NYT article about the CDC update, with several workplace implications:
The virus is an airborne threat, the C.D.C. acknowledges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/health/coronavirus-airborne-threat.html
----------
Federal health officials on Friday updated public guidance about how the coronavirus spreads, emphasizing that transmission occurs by inhaling very fine respiratory droplets and aerosolized particles, as well as through contact with sprayed droplets or touching contaminated hands to one’s mouth, nose or eyes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now states explicitly — in large, bold lettering — that airborne virus can be inhaled even when one is more than six feet away from an infected individual. The new language, posted online, is a change from the agency’s previous position that most infections were acquired through “close contact, not airborne transmission.”

As the pandemic unfolded last year, infectious disease experts warned for months that both the C.D.C. and the World Health Organization were overlooking research that strongly suggested the coronavirus traveled aloft in small, airborne particles. Several scientists on Friday welcomed the agency’s scrapping of the term “close contact,” which they criticized as vague and said did not necessarily capture the nuances of aerosol transmission.

“C.D.C. has now caught up to the latest scientific evidence, and they’ve gotten rid of some old problematic terms and thinking about how transmission occurs,” said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech.
The new focus underscores the need for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue standards for employers to address potential hazards in the workplace, some experts said.

“They hadn’t talked much about aerosols and were more focused on droplets,” said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington School of Public Health and head of OSHA in the Obama administration.

He and other researchers expressed concern that the C.D.C. has not yet strengthened its recommendations on preventing exposure to aerosolized virus.

The new information has significant implications for indoor environments, and workplaces in particular, Dr. Michaels said. Virus-laden particles “maintain their airborne properties for hours, and they accumulate in a room that doesn’t have good ventilation.”
“There’s more exposure closer up,” Dr. Michaels said. “But when you’re further away, there’s still a risk, and also these particles stay in the air.”

Donald Milton, an aerosol scientist at the University of Maryland, agreed that federal officials should provide better guidelines for keeping workplaces safe.

“We need better focus on good respirators for people who have to be close to other people for long periods of time,” Dr. Milton said. “A surgical mask, even if it’s tucked in on the edges, is still not really going to give you enough protection if you’re in a meatpacking plant elbow to elbow all day long with other people.”

Health care workers, bus drivers and other workers may also require respirators, Dr. Michaels said. Customers in retail stores should continue to maintain distance from one another and to wear masks, he added; good ventilation is paramount in these settings.

Dr. Marr pointed out that one updated page on the C.D.C. website, entitled “How Covid-19 Spreads,” says that inhaling the virus when people are far apart is “uncommon.” The statement is “misleading and potentially harmful,” Dr. Marr said.

“If you’re in a poorly ventilated environment, virus is going to build up in the air, and everyone who’s in that room is going to be exposed.”
----------

[ananda]

22. I thought this was already common knowledge.

I've known this for over a year.

[Mr. Ected]

26. So why the hell has the market not accommodated a plethora of "good respirators"?

Most of the people I see out and about are wearing surgical or cloth masks; very, very few of the N95 variety. So why exactly is that? The above article suggests the respirators we're using are inadequate, yet there have been no public initiatives to address it. Maybe the CDC is only now concerning itself with this problem, but vaccine or not, wearing a mask shouldn't be for show only. It needs to work.

[roamer65]

27. Get vaccinated.

That is the message to this tidbit of CDC information.