Droplets vs Aerosols: Understanding The Difference Amid The Pandemic

From the get-go, experts have made it clear that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is transmitted through respiratory droplets. But alongside the latest spike in cases in the U.S., health officials have discovered that COVID-19 could be transmitted to many people by aerosol too. As scientists remain baffled as to which between respiratory droplets and aerosols caused more transmissions, two research studies came out recently describing how the two differ in terms of how they spread the virus.

The first study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, states that respiratory droplets are breathed out when people exhale and are larger or equal to 5 microns (µm). Aerosols are smaller particles, smaller than 5 µm. Since aerosols are smaller, they tend to rapidly evaporate in the air or can remain suspended in it for hours.



People can reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus from respiratory droplets by wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing. On the other hand, transmission via aerosols is trickier since only face shields could provide partial protection from them and social distancing won’t be enough since aerosols could spread in the air. People with COVID-19 and asymptomatic carriers can both produce both respiratory droplets and aerosols. Unfortunately, there is still no solid data to establish which among the two caused more transmissions of the coronavirus.

The second study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information compared the transmission of droplets and aerosols in different environmental settings and found that it is still difficult to ascertain which caused more transmissions between the two. Nevertheless, the researchers who worked on the study advised that people should practice safety precautions in various settings, including airplane cabins, passenger cars, health care centers and other enclosed spaces, during the pandemic since the behavior of the virus has been "unprecedentedly unique."

Both studies concluded that even though more research needs to be done to find out if respiratory droplets lead to more infections than aerosols and vice-versa. But, for now, available information suggests that airborne transmission of COVID-19 through aerosols is not more predominant than transmission via respiratory droplets.

Original article by Medical Daily.