COVID-19 is airborne and has mutated to be more infectious: Studies
- 4 years ago
코로나 에어로졸 전파 가능, 코로나 돌연변이 확산에 치료제 개발 난항
New studies suggest COVID-19 can spread through the air like an aerosol,.. and has mutated to become even more infectious.
Although the mutation is not more severe than the original, it could mean the ongoing vaccine development has to go back to square one.
Lee Kyung-eun reports.
Some new information about COVID-19 suggests it could be harder to stop than previously thought.
First is that airborne transmission of the coronavirus is possible.
According to New York Times, some 2-hundred-39 experts from 32 countries sent an open letter to the World Health Organization,... saying that tiny particles smaller than droplets may linger in the air for hours, infecting people even in socially-distant settings.
That's contrary to what the WHO has long insisted,... that the primary mode of transmission is large respiratory droplets that fall quickly to the ground.
Even in its latest update in June, the agency said airborne transmission is only possible in particular circumstances like during medical procedures that produce aerosols.
With the findings, the scientists urge the agency to revise its recommendations.
Other studies have found that the virus has mutated, making it more infectious than before.
According to Reuters, the WHO has analyzed the genetic sequences of some 60-thousand samples of the coronavirus, 30 percent of which had mutated but were no more severe.
This is in line with a previous study published in the journal Cell,... in which a team of global scientists confirmed a new strain of the coronavirus, named G614, which spreads three to nine times faster than the previous D614.
It added that the new strain has almost completely taken over in Europe and the U.S.
The findings, the scientists say, suggest that the new version may be less pathogenic, but could make the vaccines candidates ineffective as they have been developed based on the previous strain, which originated from Wuhan, China.
Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.
New studies suggest COVID-19 can spread through the air like an aerosol,.. and has mutated to become even more infectious.
Although the mutation is not more severe than the original, it could mean the ongoing vaccine development has to go back to square one.
Lee Kyung-eun reports.
Some new information about COVID-19 suggests it could be harder to stop than previously thought.
First is that airborne transmission of the coronavirus is possible.
According to New York Times, some 2-hundred-39 experts from 32 countries sent an open letter to the World Health Organization,... saying that tiny particles smaller than droplets may linger in the air for hours, infecting people even in socially-distant settings.
That's contrary to what the WHO has long insisted,... that the primary mode of transmission is large respiratory droplets that fall quickly to the ground.
Even in its latest update in June, the agency said airborne transmission is only possible in particular circumstances like during medical procedures that produce aerosols.
With the findings, the scientists urge the agency to revise its recommendations.
Other studies have found that the virus has mutated, making it more infectious than before.
According to Reuters, the WHO has analyzed the genetic sequences of some 60-thousand samples of the coronavirus, 30 percent of which had mutated but were no more severe.
This is in line with a previous study published in the journal Cell,... in which a team of global scientists confirmed a new strain of the coronavirus, named G614, which spreads three to nine times faster than the previous D614.
It added that the new strain has almost completely taken over in Europe and the U.S.
The findings, the scientists say, suggest that the new version may be less pathogenic, but could make the vaccines candidates ineffective as they have been developed based on the previous strain, which originated from Wuhan, China.
Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.