Identification, characterization, and natural selection of mutations driving
airborne transmission of A/ H5N1 virus.
Makishima: Significance of
airborne transmission of Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in an Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery unit: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg.
Last week, he told the Los Angeles Times that he aACAywouldn't rule out' the possibility of
airborne transmission in aACAytight quarters'.
That means that isolation is a little bit easier than having to protect also against
airborne transmission.
If there was a role for
airborne transmission, we'd be seeing a lot more cases and deaths by now,'' said Ben Neuman, a virologist at Britain's University of Reading.
Of 183 epidemiological studies published worldwide from 1960-2005 with keywords or medical subject headings (MeSH) pertaining to
airborne transmission of communicable respiratory diseases, only 40 studies provided data on ventilation.
The clear message here is that detection of airborne MERS-CoV molecules, which were 100 per cent identical with the viral genomic sequence detected from a camel actively shedding the virus in the same barn on the same day, warrants further investigations and measures to prevent possible
airborne transmission of this deadly virus," Azhar said.
The mode of transmission remains unknown but is most likely to be by droplet transmission although
airborne transmission is also a possibility.
According to experts, the bubonic plague form, transmitted from person to person by direct contact and usually localized in bubo, is not as dangerous as pneumonic plague, which is spread by
airborne transmission.
While some experts argue that H5N1 viruses are inherently unable to transmit from human to human, two recent studies of ferrets suggest that
airborne transmission is possible (Science 2012;336:1534-41 and Nature 2012; 486:420-8).
Factors influencing
airborne transmission are ability of the infectious agent to be transmitted by aerosol, source of infectious agents, environmental survival, infectious dose of aerosol transmitted agents, ventilation air patterns (Tang et al.
The authors wrote in an editorial note, "of the six cases, only the index patient initially was suspected of having measles; therefore, he was the only patient for whom isolation precautions were taken," despite 2007 guidelines issued by the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) recommending precautions against
airborne transmission for any patient who has a maculopapular rash accompanied by cough, coryza, and fever.
