Influenza And Coronavirus Can Be Transmitted Through Dust, Studies Show

Recent studies showed that influenza and other viruses, including the new coronavirus, can spread through dust. Researchers from the University of California Davis and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported on Tuesday that dust particles can also transmit infection through the air.

According to researchers, studies conducted on guinea pigs showed that animals can transmit infection via virus painted onto their fur. The studies also found that tissues doused with virus and then dried out can also spread infectious particles when they are crumpled.

Their findings contradict previous speculations that the coronavirus can only spread in tiny droplets of saliva and mucus suspended in the air or on surfaces. “These results show that dried influenza virus remains viable in the environment, on materials like paper tissues and on the bodies of living animals, long enough to be aerosolized on non-respiratory dust particles that can transmit infection through the air to new mammalian hosts,” wrote the researchers.

Chemical engineer William Ristenpart of UC Davis also said the findings of the study suggest that airborne dust and not expiratory droplets carry influenza virus that is capable of infecting animals. “Transmission via dust opens up whole new areas of investigation and has profound implications for how we interpret laboratory experiments as well as epidemiological investigations of outbreaks,” he said.

The researchers noted that the findings of the study do not necessarily apply to humans. They also recommended further tests on the coronavirus to investigate the contribution of aerosolized fomites to respiratory virus transmission in both humans and animals.

The transmission of coronavirus through aerosol was discovered earlier this year, when air sampling in hospitals found the highest counts of the new coronavirus in rooms with used personal protective equipment (PPE) of health workers.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic in China, air sampling in various hospital locations found the highest airborne genome counts of SARS-CoV-2 in rooms where health care workers doffed their personal protective equipment, hinting that the virus was possibly being aerosolized from contaminated clothing as it was removed,” the researchers wrote.