Article
Environmental Sciences
Mojtaba Ehsanifar
Summary: Researchers are actively investigating the transmission of the coronavirus, with aerosol transmission considered possible. Precautionary control strategies to effectively reduce virus transmission need to be considered.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Nathan Dumont-Leblond, Caroline Duchaine, Marc Veillette, Visal Pen, Marco Bergevin
Summary: This article reports a case of primary COVID-19 pneumonia in a 48-year-old male patient, suggesting that aerosols may be a mode of virus transmission. It also highlights the limitations of oral and nasal testing methods and the importance of anatomical considerations in studying SARS-CoV-2 infections.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Chin Chun Ooi, Ady Suwardi, Zhong Liang Ou Yang, George Xu, Chee Kiang Ivan Tan, Dan Daniel, Hongying Li, Zhengwei Ge, Fong Yew Leong, Kalisvar Marimuthu, Oon Tek Ng, Shin Bin Lim, Peter Lim, Wai Siong Mak, Wun Chet Davy Cheong, Xian Jun Loh, Chang Wei Kang, Keng Hui Lim
Summary: The study proposes a risk assessment method combining computational and experimental approaches to help decision-makers classify scenarios into different risk levels based on simulations and experiments, guiding the opening and lockdown of activities. Through a case study on a public bus in Singapore, researchers identified the impact of different activities and passenger positions on infection risk, demonstrating the effectiveness of this risk assessment method.
Article
Environmental Sciences
P. W. Miller, C. Reesman, M. K. Grossman, S. A. Nelson, V Liu, P. Wang
Summary: This study examined the air temperature and particulate changes in China during January-February 2020, finding that a decrease in particulates during the COVID-19 quarantine led to slight surface warming. The warming may have implications for temperature-dependent disease transmission.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mamoru Takada, Taichi Fukushima, Sho Ozawa, Syuma Matsubara, Takeshi Suzuki, Ichiro Fukumoto, Toyoyuki Hanazawa, Takeshi Nagashima, Reiko Uruma, Masayuki Otsuka, Gaku Tanaka
Summary: This study used computational simulation to investigate the aerosol transmission in clinical settings and found that a suction device can effectively reduce the risk of healthcare workers' exposure to aerosols, especially for larger particles. However, for coughing patients, the efficiency of removing aerosols varies with the particle size in an inverse manner, and humidity also affects aerosol behavior.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Martin Z. Bazant, John W. M. Bush
Summary: The importance of airborne transmission of COVID-19 is widely recognized, but there is currently no safety guideline proposed. The suggestion is to set an upper limit on cumulative exposure time in indoor spaces, which depends on factors such as ventilation and air filtration rates, room dimensions, breathing rate, respiratory activity, and face mask use.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Nuno Rufino de Sousa, Laura Steponaviciute, Lucille Margerie, Karolina Nissen, Midori Kjellin, Bjorn Reinius, Erik Salaneck, Klas Udekwu, Antonio Gigliotti Rothfuchs
Summary: This study detected aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Sweden and found infectious SARS-CoV-2 particles in the air. This suggests the need for revising existing infection control frameworks to include airborne transmission.
Article
Biology
Christopher J. R. Illingworth, William L. Hamilton, Ben Warne, Matthew Routledge, Ashley Popay, Chris Jackson, Tom Fieldman, Luke W. Meredith, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Myra Hosmillo, Aminu S. Jahun, Laura G. Caller, Sarah L. Caddy, Anna Yakovleva, Grant Hall, Fahad A. Khokhar, Theresa Feltwell, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Yasmin Chaudhry, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Dominic Sparkes, Lucy Rivett, Nick K. Jones, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Tom Dymond, Kayleigh Grainger, Chris Workman, Mark Ferris, Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Nicholas M. Brown, Michael P. Weekes, Stephen Baker, Sharon J. Peacock, Ian G. Goodfellow, Theodore Gouliouris, Daniela de Angelis, M. Estee Torok
Summary: The study revealed an uneven pattern of transmission between individuals, with patients more likely to be infected by other patients. The data also showed a pattern of superspreading, where 21% of individuals caused 80% of transmission events.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mehdi Stiti, Guilaume Castanet, Andrew Corber, Marcus Alden, Edouard Berrocal
Summary: The research focused on the transition of saliva droplets expelled during speaking or coughing into solid residues, showing that droplets with initial diameter smaller than 21 μm will produce solid residue in less than 2 s. The model takes into account the composition of saliva, relative humidity, and ambient temperature in predicting the drying process of droplets.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Khaled Talaat, Mohamed Abuhegazy, Omar A. Mahfoze, Osman Anderoglu, Svetlana V. Poroseva
Summary: Identifying economically viable intervention measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission on aircraft is crucial, especially with the emergence of new SARS-CoV2 variants. Using computational simulations, it was found that employing sneeze shields on full capacity flights can significantly reduce aerosol transmission compared to reduced capacity flights without shields.
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Yue Sa, Wei-Shao Lin, Dean Morton, Cui Huang
Summary: The article reviews the experiences and protocols of the Department of Prosthodontics, Wuhan University School and Hospital of Stomatology during and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Measures such as enhanced personal protective equipment, teledentistry, online education, and emphasis on psychological health were taken. The importance of considering employee well-being and implementing distance education in times of pandemic was highlighted.
JOURNAL OF PROSTHETIC DENTISTRY
(2021)
Review
Construction & Building Technology
Saeed Rayegan, Chang Shu, Justin Berquist, Jisoo Jeon, Liang (Grace) Zhou, Liangzhu (Leon) Wang, Hamza Mbareche, Patrique Tardif, Hua Ge
Summary: This paper reviews the modeling and mitigation strategies of COVID-19 airborne transmission. It discusses various simulation models, their mathematical descriptions and assumptions, as well as the input data and measurements used in previous studies. It also classifies and evaluates the recommended mitigation strategies for different building types. The paper highlights the knowledge gaps and provides recommendations for future research.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Review
Construction & Building Technology
Jose L. Jimenez, Linsey C. Marr, Katherine Randall, Edward Thomas Ewing, Zeynep Tufekci, Trish Greenhalgh, Raymond Tellier, Julian W. Tang, Yuguo Li, Lidia Morawska, Jonathan Mesiano-Crookston, David Fisman, Orla Hegarty, Stephanie J. Dancer, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Giorgio Buonanno, Marcel G. L. C. Loomans, William P. Bahnfleth, Maosheng Yao, Chandra Sekhar, Pawel Wargocki, Arsen K. Melikov, Kimberly A. Prather
Summary: This article explains the controversy over whether SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted by droplets or aerosols through a historical analysis of transmission research in other diseases. The dominant belief in history was that many diseases were transmitted through the air, but the rise of germ theory challenged this paradigm and discovered other transmission pathways. It was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that airborne transmission was recognized as a significant mode of transmission.
Review
Virology
Emma Brown, Noel Nelson, Simon Gubbins, Claire Colenutt
Summary: This review revisits existing knowledge on the airborne transmission of foot-and-mouth disease and investigates how modern tools and modeling approaches can enhance our understanding of this transmission route.
Article
Environmental Sciences
B. R. Rowe, A. Canosa, J. M. Drouffe, J. B. A. Mitchell
Summary: The paper develops a simple model to assess the inhaled flow rate of aerosol particles of respiratory origin and its connection to the probability of developing airborne diseases. It demonstrates that outdoor contamination risk is generally significantly lower than indoor risk, except for specific meteorological and topographical situations. The research sheds light on COVID19 spreading patterns in mountain valleys with temperature inversions compared to other less impacted areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Nirja Mehta, Tiffany Wang, Rachel J. Friedman-Moraco, Cynthia Carpentieri, Aneesh K. Mehta, Nadine Rouphael, Tanvi Dhere, Christian P. Larsen, Colleen S. Kraft, Michael H. Woodworth
Summary: This review discusses the potential risks of pathogen transmission through fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and reviews the reported adverse effects of FMT and current screening recommendations. There is a need for further study to develop guidelines for screening opportunistic infections transmitted through FMT.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Charles E. Marvil, Ahmed Babiker, Aaron Preston, Andrew S. Webster, Jeannette Guarner, Kari Love, Elham Ghonim, Paulina A. Rebolledo, Yun F. Wang, Robert A. Arthur, H. Richard Johnston, Jesse J. Waggoner, Anne Piantadosi, Jesse T. Jacob
Summary: In this study, an epidemiological investigation and genome sequencing were performed to determine the source and scope of an outbreak of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a cluster of hospitalized patients. Lack of appropriate respiratory hygiene during a single hemodialysis session resulted in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to patients and healthcare workers, highlighting the importance of infection prevention precautions.
INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Anas Hamad, Shereen Elazzazy, Salha Bujassoum, Kakil Rasul, Javid Gaziev, Honar Cherif, Zakiya Al-Boloshi, Yolande Hanssens, Ayman Saleh, Hadi Abu Rasheed, Daoud Al-Badriyeh, Ahmed Babiker, Amid Abu Hmaidan, Moza Al-Hail
Summary: The Qatar Oncology Health Economics Expert Panel (Q-OHEP) aimed to establish a consistent and robust base for evaluating oncology/hematology medications, increase patient access to cutting-edge treatments, and implement cost-effective strategies and efficient methodologies in cancer care. The panel recommended fast-track approval for drugs needed by critically ill patients, promotion of local clinical trials and real-world studies, and implementing a forecast system to prevent drug shortages and delays.
BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Soya S. Sam, Ralph Rogers, Jessica Ingersoll, Colleen S. Kraft, Angela M. Caliendo
Summary: This study evaluated the performance characteristics of the Aptima CMV Quant assay compared to other FDA-approved CMV assays including Abbott RealTime CMV assay, Qiagen Artus CMV RGQ MDx assay, and Roche cobas CMV test using plasma samples. The Aptima assay showed sensitivity and accuracy in quantifying CMV in plasma specimens and yielded comparable results to other FDA-approved CMV assays.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Joel Mumma, Fobang Liu, Nga Lee Ng, Jill Morgan, Morgan Lane, Paige Gannon
Summary: Cloth masks are a valuable tool for controlling community transmission and outbreak situations, but the impact of various designs on their effectiveness and user discomfort has been overlooked. This study systematically varied design parameters and found that adults preferred masks with fabric ties over ear loops due to discomfort and increased face and mask-touching behaviors. Children, on the other hand, found flannel masks more breathable but touched their masks more frequently. The findings highlight the importance of considering design decisions and their impact on user discomfort and behavior to enhance the effectiveness of cloth masks as source control.
JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE
(2023)
Letter
Environmental Sciences
Joel Mumma, Fobang Liu, Nga Lee Ng, Jill Morgan, Morgan Lane, Paige Gannon
JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Gregory L. Damhorst, Nils Schoof, Phuong-Vi Nguyen, Hans Verkerke, Eli Wilber, Kaleb McLendon, William O'Sick, Tyler Baugh, Suneethamma Cheedarla, Narayanaiah Cheedarla, Victoria Stittleburg, Eric C. Fitts, Margaret A. Neja, Ahmed Babiker, Anne Piantadosi, John D. Roback, Jesse J. Waggoner, Maud Mavigner, Wilbur A. Lam
Summary: This study found that most patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection have concurrent antigenemia, as detected by blood plasma nucleocapsid antigen analysis. However, there may be some individuals with active infection in whom antigenemia is not detectable. Blood testing has the potential to be a screening tool to reduce reliance on nasopharyngeal swab sampling and as an adjunct diagnostic test to aid in clinical decision making.
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Ophthalmology
Arian Ghanouni, Sarah A. A. Avila, Adam G. G. de la Garza, Duaa Sharfi, Heather Singiser, Samuel D. D. Stampfer, George Marshall Lyon, Ahmed Babiker
Summary: A 75-year-old immunocompetent male developed right orbital cellulitis after a foreign body injury. He underwent orbitotomy and foreign body removal, and was started on broad-spectrum antibiotics. Culture revealed Cladophialophora bantiana, a mold known for causing brain abscesses but with no prior reports of orbital invasion. The patient received voriconazole and multiple orbitotomies and washouts for infection control.
ORBIT-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON ORBITAL DISORDERS-OCULOPLASTIC AND LACRIMAL SURGERY
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Sadia H. Sarzynski, Alexander Lawandi, Sarah Warner, Cumhur Y. Demirkale, Jeffrey R. Strich, John P. Dekker, Ahmed Babiker, Willy Li, Sameer S. Kadri
Summary: This study found that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values within the currently defined susceptible range for S. maltophilia infections cannot discriminate mortality risk for patients, and cannot guide future breakpoint revisions. The study compared the relationship between different MIC values and mortality risk, and found no significant correlation.
JAC-ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Jeffrey R. Strich, Alexander Lawandi, Sarah Warner, Cumhur Y. Demirkale, Sadia Sarzynski, Ahmed Babiker, John P. Dekker, Sameer S. Kadri
Summary: A recent study found that piperacillin/tazobactam had a higher risk of mortality compared to meropenem for ceftriaxone-non-susceptible Enterobacterales infections. However, clinical data showed that piperacillin/tazobactam had improved outcomes for Enterobacterales infections with an MIC of <= 16/4 mg/L. Rating: 8 out of 10.
JAC-ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Matthew L. Robinson, Julia Johnson, Shilpa Naik, Sunil Patil, Rajesh Kulkarni, Aarti Kinikar, Vaishali Dohe, Swati Mudshingkar, Anju Kagal, Rachel M. Smith, Matthew Westercamp, Bharat Randive, Abhay Kadam, Ahmed Babiker, Vandana Kulkarni, Rajesh Karyakarte, Vidya Mave, Amita Gupta, Aaron M. Milstone, Yukari C. Manabe
Summary: Pre-delivery maternal sampling and neonatal observation did not identify the maternal source for neonatal gram-negative bloodstream infection. However, most neonatal gram-negative bloodstream isolates were closely related to other clinical isolates, suggesting nosocomial transmission.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Eli P. P. Wilber, Ahmed Babiker, Jessica Howard-Anderson, Jill E. E. Holdsworth, Eileen M. M. Burd, M. Jeremy Eldridge, Jesse T. T. Jacob
Summary: Initial specimen diversion devices (ISDDs) are effective in reducing blood-culture contamination rates, as shown by sustained reduction for over 18 months. However, no clinically significant reduction in inpatient vancomycin usage was observed.
INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jessica A. Tarabay, Jill S. Morgan, Colleen S. Kraft, Mary Elizabeth Sexton
Summary: Hospitals dealing with high-consequence pathogens must handle a large amount of category A waste safely. They identified and validated autoclave cycle parameters that would effectively sterilize 4 categories of waste by using biological indicators and the STERIS Amsco 630LS Steam Sterilizer.
INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Immunology
Sadia H. Sarzynski, Sarah Warner, Junfeng Sun, Roland Matsouaka, John P. Dekker, Ahmed Babiker, Willy Li, Yi Ling Lai, Robert L. Danner, Vance G. Fowler Jr, Sameer S. Kadri
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
C. P. Girish Kumar, Tarun Bhatnagar, G. Sathya Narayanan, S. S. Swathi, V Sindhuja, Valan A. Siromany, Daniel VanderEnde, Paul Malpiedi, Rachel M. Smith, Susan Bollinger, Ahmed Babiker, Ashley Styczynski
Summary: This study examined the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Enterobacterales in hospitals and the surrounding community in South India. The results showed high levels of colonization with extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales (ESCrE), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), and colistin-resistant Enterobacterales (Col-RE) in both settings.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)