Controversy surrounding how COVID-19 is transmitted and what interventions are needed to control the pandemic has revealed a critical need to better understand the airborne transmission pathway of respiratory viruses, which will allow for better-informed strategies to mitigate the transmission of respiratory infections. Droplet and fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 alone cannot account for the numerous superspreading events and differences in transmission between indoor and outdoor environments observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The limitations of traditional views of droplet, fomite, and airborne transmission were illuminated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is robust evidence supporting the airborne transmission of many respiratory viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)–CoV, influenza virus, human rhinovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Airborne transmission is traditionally defined as involving the inhalation of infectious aerosols or “droplet nuclei” smaller than 5 μm and mainly at a distance of >1 to 2 m away from the infected individual, and such transmission has been thought to be relevant only for “unusual” diseases. GKA Structured Abstract BACKGROUNDĮxposure to droplets produced in the coughs and sneezes of infected individuals or contact with droplet-contaminated surfaces (fomites) have been widely perceived as the dominant transmission modes for respiratory pathogens. The authors suggest that airborne transmission may be the dominant form of transmission for several respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, and that further understanding of the mechanisms underlying infection from the airborne route will better inform mitigation measures. review recent advances in understanding airborne transmission gained from studying the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and other respiratory pathogens.

However, several respiratory pathogens are known to spread through small respiratory aerosols, which can float and travel in air flows, infecting people who inhale them at short and long distances from the infected person. Traditionally, it was thought that respiratory pathogens spread between people through large droplets produced in coughs and through contact with contaminated surfaces (fomites). The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted controversies and unknowns about how respiratory pathogens spread between hosts.

On A Life's Edge by J.L. Whitaker