Scientists have concluded for months that the emerging coronavirus can remain stuck in the spray issued by patients when they speak and breathe without there being any evidence yet that these small particles are contagious.
However, a recent study by scientists at the University of Nebraska, published earlier this week, demonstrated for the first time that the SARS-Cove-2 virus particles taken from the air of Covid-19 patients' rooms were able to reproduce, thereby causing infection.
This reinforces the hypothesis that the virus is transmitted not only through coughing or sneezing, but also by speaking in a normal way and breathing, and that infectious particles of the virus can remain stuck for a long time in the absence of ventilation, and cover a distance of more than two meters that is recommended as part of a social spacing procedure.
And the results are still preliminary, and have not been studied yet by the Reading Committee in a scientific journal that would confirm the method used by scientists to reach this result. The results were published on Monday on the "Medrexif" website, where the scientific community can comment freely.
But the team itself had previously published a study last March that showed that the virus remains in the air of hospital patients, and the study will be published in a scientific journal soon, according to its chief contributor.
"This is not easy," Joshua Santarbia, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told AFP on how to collect virus particles in the air thanks to a mobile-sized machine. He added that «the assemblies of molecules are weak, and we have generally little opportunity to take a sample that can be used».
The researchers took samples from the air in the rooms of five patients lying in bed 30 cm above the edge of the bed from the side of the feet. The patients were speaking normally and some were sneezing. Scientists have been able to collect molecules less than five microns in diameter and carry the virus, or even less than a micron. Then they isolated the virus and placed it in a special environment for reproduction, and concluded that three of the 18 samples tested were able to reproduce.
Professor Santarbia said that this proves that small particles in the air that are able to travel greater distances than large molecules are able to cause injury to people. He said it "multiplies in a cell culture environment and is therefore contagious."
And the scientific community has already recognized the possibility that small particles of the virus can travel through the air, which has led to increased calls for masking.