This article is a Preprint
Preprints are preliminary research reports that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Preprints posted online allow authors to receive rapid feedback and the entire scientific community can appraise the work for themselves and respond appropriately. Those comments are posted alongside the preprints for anyone to read them and serve as a post publication assessment.
The SARS-COV-2 outbreak around the Amazon rainforest: the relevance of the airborne transmission (preprint)
medrxiv; 2020.
Preprint
in English
| medRxiv | ID: ppzbmed-10.1101.2020.08.06.20169433
ABSTRACT
BackgroundThis paper presents a global analysis of the SARS-COV-2 outbreak in Brazil. Amazonian States have a much higher contamination rate than the southern and southeastern States. So far, no explanation has been provided for this striking difference that can shed light on the airborne transmission of the virus. Minimizing airborne transmission, health authorities recommend two meters as a safe distance. However, recent experiments reveal that this can be the main form of contagion. There is a lack of theoretical explanation on how airborne transmission works. MethodsTo investigate the spread of SARS-COV-2 in different macro environments, we analyzed the daily official data on the evolution of COVID-19 in Brazil. We compared our epidemiologic results obtained in States with very different climatic characteristics, and that had adopted, almost simultaneously, similar social isolation measures. To understand the virus spread, it was necessary to calculate theoretically the movement and behavior in the air of saliva droplets. FindingsThe transmission of SARS-COV-2 is much faster in the Amazon rainforest region. Our theoretical calculations explain and support the empirical results observed in recent experiments that demonstrate the relevance of aerial transmission of the coronavirus. InterpretationAn onset of collective immunity may have been achieved with a contamination rate of about 15% of the Amazonian population. If confirmed, this result will have an essential impact on the management of the pandemic across the planet. The airborne transmission played a decisive role in the striking difference in the evolution of the pandemic among Brazilian regions. Air humidity is the most important climatic factor in viral spreading, while usual ambient temperatures do not have strong influence. There is no safe indoor distance for the coronavirus transmission. So, mask and eye protection are essential.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
medRxiv
Main subject:
COVID-19
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Preprint
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS