French researchers: High temperatures ineffective against coronavirus

[RandySF]

The novel coronavirus can survive in high temperatures, researchers said, casting doubt on suggestions that the threat will subside in the summer.

Researchers from the University of Aix-Marseille in France, led by Remi Charrel and Boris Pastorino, found that the virus survived in 140-degree Fahrenheit temperatures typically used to disinfect research labs, The Jerusalem Post reported.

It took 15 minutes of exposure to 197.6-degree temperatures to kill the virus, the newspaper noted, adding that the study had yet to be peer-reviewed.

Researchers did say the lower temperature should be sufficient to deactivate the virus in samples with smaller loads but added that the higher temperature was necessary for larger loads and concluded that disinfecting chemicals were a better option.





https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/493530-french-researchers-high-temperatures-ineffective-against-coronavirus

[struggle4progress]

1. "The virus won't survive run-away global warming!"

[blitzen]

2. It's not the heat, it's the humidity. See this interview with Yale immunologist...

http://nautil.us/issue/84/outbreak/summer-wont-save-us-from-covid_19

What role did winter play in the spread of the pandemic?

Winter definitely plays a role because we know, by studying many other respiratory pathogens, that the winter months provide an ideal situation for viruses to transmit in the air. If you look at the influenza virus, the peak is in winter. Part of the reason for this is because we have low humidity indoors during winter, and that is an ideal condition for the virus to survive in the air. Another part is the fact that our defense against respiratory viruses declines in low-humidity settings. These things usually contribute to infection and transmission of influenza and other respiratory viruses.

Why does low humidity help the virus spread?

What happens when you cough or sneeze is that you expel the virus particle inside these droplets. When the droplet hits the air, and it’s very dry, it loses the water content and it becomes desiccated. Little dried particles float in the air, and they tend to persist in the air for hours. Whereas if the humidity is high, those droplets acquire water vapor from the air, and they become larger and they drop on the floor instead of infecting someone else. The low humidity basically allows these aerosolized particles to remain in the air for much longer because they don’t retain the water very well.

Did another winter factor come into play?

Likely sunlight, because it’s important to metabolize vitamin D. In the winter, people tend to stay indoors more often and they’re not getting enough sunlight. Vitamin D is well known to boost the immune system. That’s another winter factor that might affect the person’s ability to defend against the respiratory infection.
We’re not even at the peak of it. We are just bracing.

Will summer save us?

No, this doesn’t mean summertime will basically cure the virus. The aerosol transmission will likely reduce in the summer, but the direct transmission—as well as fomite transmission through things like skin cells and clothes—is still going to happen.

[Anon-C]

3. +1000