Influenza virus turns out to spread by normal breathing alone

Influenza, which spreads in winter, is a troublesome disease that attracts a great deal of attention not only in Japan but also in countries around the world. Preventive measures such as vaccination, isolation of the affected person, and 'wearing a mask', which proved to be less effective, are generally widely known, but the latest research shows that virus carriers simply breathe. It is known that the virus is spread just by doing so.

Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/17/1716561115.abstract

Flu may be spread just by breathing, new study shows; coughing and sneezing not required | UMD School of Public Health
https://sph.umd.edu/news-item/flu-may-be-spread-just-breathing-new-study-shows-coughing-and-sneezing-not-required

Studies conducted by scientists at the University of Maryland show that the spread of the flu virus is easier than previously thought. In the article 'Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community' published in the National Academy of Sciences, influenza patients exhale. Influenza contains a large amount of infectious virus, and there is evidence that exhaled airborne infection should be considered.

Dr. Donald K. Milton, a professor of environmental hygiene at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a master's degree in public health, said, 'The air around people with the flu symptoms only breathes without coughing or sneezing. Also revealed that they are contaminated with an infectious virus. People with the flu release infectious aerosols into the air, especially on the first day of the flu, so someone If you get the flu, you should get home right away and stay away from work to prevent it from infecting others. '

A research team led by Dr. Milton investigated the influenza virus contained in 'normal exhaled breath,' 'spoken exhaled breath,' 'spontaneous cough,' and 'sneezing' collected from 142 people with influenza, and found that it was infectious. I investigated the degree. From the subjects, 218 samples of exhaled breath, coughing, and sneezing, which were collected over 30 minutes, and a sample of which the inside of the nose was wiped with a cotton swab-shaped instrument 'swab' were collected.

Analysis of these samples revealed that the aerosols in the exhaled breath released by many influenza patients contained enough influenza virus to cause airborne infections. And noteworthy is the fact that even normal exhaled breath contained many viruses. Of the 23 aerosol samples contained in naturally aspirated engines, 48%, or 11, contained detectable viral RNA, and 8 of the 11 contained infectious virus. increase. Furthermore, the surprising fact that the proportion of virus contained in the aerosol sample contained in sneezing is not much different from that contained in normal exhaled breath has also been revealed. In other words, it turns out that influenza virus is not abundant in sneezing, and that normal exhaled breath also contains the same amount and is spread.

The authors of the paper found that these findings improve mathematical models of influenza transmission in the air, produce more effective public health measures, and curb and mitigate the effects of the influenza pandemic. It is written that it enables. If an influenza patient appears, it is important to isolate the infected person by returning home and keep it out, and at the same time, vaccination should not be neglected. And that. It is true that you can get the flu even if you get vaccinated, but it is not meaningless because it can be expected to prevent the condition from becoming more serious.