Virus / Covid-19

March 2009 Journal of Aerosol Science 40(3):256-269 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2008.11.002 Abstract: A new expiratory droplet investigation system (EDIS) was used to conduct the most comprehensive program of study to date, of the dilution corrected droplet size distributions produced during different respiratory activities.Distinct physiological processes were responsible for specific size distribution modes. The majority of particles for all activities

What is ‘herd immunity’? ‘Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached. Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it. Vaccines train our immune

The durability of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 is critical for understanding community outbreaks and serologic testing data, and to predict the longevity of vaccine protection. Two new studies demonstrate how severity of disease is predictive of longer-lasting antibody production and detail how immunity wanes over time but may exist

SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persist for months after infection, a new study shows. One of the most significant questions about the novel coronavirus is whether people who are infected are immune from reinfection and, if so, for how long. To determine the answer, researchers studied the production of antibodies from a sample of nearly 6,000 people and

December 1,2020: This post was based on the best available evidence at the beginning of the pandemic (March-April 2020). The information contained is still very relevant, but there is also now an updated/companion review specifically looking at the transmission of COVID-19 (and concluding aerosols play a very important role in it’s transmission), that can be found here.

Gerhard Scheuch Published Online: 28 Jul 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1089/jamp.2020.1616 Background: The transmission of respiratory viruses such as influenza and corona viruses from one person to another is still not fully understood. Methods: A literature search showed that there is a strong scientific rationale and evidence that viruses are very efficiently spread through aerosols by the patient’s breathing