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Variation in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Bioaerosol Production in Exhaled Breath.

Renu VermaEugene KimNicholas DegnerKatharine S WalterUpinder SinghJason R Andrews
Published in: Open forum infectious diseases (2021)
We developed a simple, noninvasive mask sampling method to quantify and sequence severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from exhaled breath. We found substantial variation between individuals in SARS-CoV-2 copies exhaled over a 15-minute period, which moderately correlated with nasal swab viral load. Talking was associated with a median of 2 log 10 greater exhaled viral copies. Exposure varies substantially between individuals but may be risk stratified by nasal swab viral load and whether the exposure involved conversation.
Keyphrases
  • respiratory syndrome coronavirus
  • sars cov
  • coronavirus disease
  • chronic rhinosinusitis
  • breast cancer risk