- New WHO report says cold and flu viruses spread through the air, not surfaces
- The guidance means that mitigation measures such as handwashing are not as effective.
- READ MORE: CDC says coronavirus DOES spread through the air
After all, sharing glasses and bottles of water with a sick friend or family member cannot infect them with the common cold virus, World Health Organization experts suggested in a landmark report.
New guidance from a coalition of nearly 50 doctors overturned the commonly held idea that infected droplets transferred from hard surfaces and the skin are the cause of respiratory viruses like colds and flu.
The decision resolved a Covid-era debate over whether some viruses like Covid spread primarily by inhaling infected air or through contaminated surfaces.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, virology experts welcomed the conclusion that surfaces are not as vital as previously thought, which they say should have been confirmed early in the pandemic.
Virology experts spoke to DailyMail.com about the change, noting that germs spread on surfaces such as cups and even hands do not contribute to the spread of lung infections such as the cold and flu.
The long-standing dogma among infectious disease experts and scientists was that droplets smaller than five microns floated in the air, while larger droplets shot like bullets and spread three to six feet.
Dr Don Milton, respiratory virus expert and co-author of the new WHO guidance, told DailyMail.com: We know that for gastrointestinal infections [hand washing and being careful touching surfaces like cups] They are going to be important.
“I think their importance for respiratory viruses is probably much less.”
He WHO guidance applied to all pathogens that cause lung infections, including Covid, influenza and rhinovirus.
The report did not include non-respiratory infections, such as gastrointestinal infections like norovirus, which can be transmitted through germs on the hands.
Until late 2020, the WHO had only considered some infections to be airborne, such as tuberculosis and measles. Most of them were classified as “droplet transmission.”
Until late 2020, the WHO only considered some infections to be airborne, such as tuberculosis and measles.
At first, Covid was classified the same way. That message prompted millions of people in early 2020 to disinfect all surfaces, including groceries and mail. This even caused a shortage of cleaning products at the time.
But evidence grew that Covid could be transmitted through aerosolized particles. Suspended particles can remain in the air for hours, casting a pathogenic cloud over an infected person that follows them wherever they go.
Dr Stuart Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told DailyMail.com: “I think the lessons from Covid helped us understand that that cloud of particles can move,” adding that people still need to wash their hands. hands to be safe.
The long-standing dogma among infectious disease experts was that droplets smaller than five microns floated in the air, while larger droplets shot like bullets and spread three to six feet.
But scientists have recently discovered that infectious particles come in a variety of sizes and that tiny particles can stay in the air for much longer and spread over longer distances.
The report came after doctors from various specialties as well as virology, including engineers and aerosol scientists, worked for two long years to reach a conclusion. Dr. Milton, who has long thought that respiratory viruses spread through the air, found the delay frustrating.
He said: “When we showed we could grow the virus from people’s exhaled breath [in 2013] I thought we were going to get over the hill at that point, but clearly there is still a long way to go.
“Part of that resistance is because some of the solutions require investment in infrastructure and require people to do things, and those are two difficult things to do: provide money and change what you do.”
