These Coronavirus Exposures Might Be the Most Dangerous

[jmbar2]

Really good article from NY Times...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/opinion/coronavirus-viral-dose.html

Synopsis
Severity of CV is dose dependent. Our goal should be to avoid getting or spreading high viral loads, minimizing exposure to low viral loads.

The importance of viral dose is being overlooked in discussions of the coronavirus. As with any other poison, viruses are usually more dangerous in larger amounts. Small initial exposures tend to lead to mild or asymptomatic infections, while larger doses can be lethal.

From a policy perspective, we need to consider that not all exposures to the coronavirus may be the same. Stepping into an office building that once had someone with the coronavirus in it is not as dangerous as sitting next to that infected person for an hourlong train commute.

This may seem obvious, but many people are not making this distinction. We need to focus more on preventing high-dose infection.

.....

During the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong, for instance, one patient infected many others living in the same complex of apartment buildings, resulting in 19 dead. The spread of infection is thought to have been caused by airborne viral particles that were blown throughout the complex from the initial patient’s apartment unit. As a result of greater viral exposure, neighbors who lived in the same building were not only more frequently infected but also more likely to die. By contrast, more distant neighbors, even when infected, suffered less.

....

In-person interactions are more dangerous in enclosed spaces and at short distances, with dose escalating with exposure time. For transient interactions that violate the rule of maintaining six feet between you and others, such as paying a cashier at the grocery store, keep them brief — aim for “within six feet, only six seconds.”

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Transmission through HVAC systems worries me. I live in a building with a lot of elderly people and smells travel easily here. I wonder if the 'rona will also travel easily.

[LizBeth]

1. A couple two or three weeks ago, I concluded this, with what I was seeing. Isolate, but when out

reduce the risk. ODC I can see germs everywhere on everything. I wipe down what comes in. Then wash hands. I cover face. I let things sit without handling. Take shoes off. Reducing, always reducing. I am not good enough to keep it at nil, but I do believe the severity of virus is the amount of virus. I think that is why hospital workers are hit so hard, and young and healthy workers.

[jmbar2]

3. we're definitely on the same track

I first got really alarmed about the virus overhearing medical students discussing it in late Feb. I immediately joined Costco, stocked up on a month's supplies on the way home, and have stayed hunkered down since then.

I made masks, cut up disinfecting wipes into small pieces to take when I have to leave, and keep a water jug and soap in my car to wash before and after going anywhere. Doing the grocery wipe as well and isolating packages on my patio for days before bringing them in.

I think I have most of the bases covered, except for airborne transmission through the building. Secondhand pot smoke, incense and aromatherapy odors permeate my apt from below. I think it's my biggest risks right now.

Scares the bejeebus out of me if she gets it. She's super religious, so may believe she's protected.

[LizBeth]

7. +1

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Perhaps these people at risk in apartment buildings and such can place filters on their air inlets

coming into their apartments? Make sure that the complex has a rigorous filtration system too. Block airflow from underneath your entryway (from the rest of the apartment building). This is a serious concern, not just for you, but all of you in these buildings. Best of wishes and be safe.

[jmbar2]

4. Great suggestion!

I already blocked the HVAC air vents, and run the kitchen and bathroom vents all day to suck air out. But hadn't thought about the door. Thanks!

[SWBTATTReg]

5. I do the same thing, I vent out air in the house periodically through my bathroom vent, just to ...

change the air quality inside to be a little better. Every little bit can't hurt, eh?

Take care!

[Igel]

9. The air you expel ...

Where's the replacement air coming from?

Outside? Vents from other apts, however indirect? The hallway (if your apt. opens into a hallway). HVAC, blocked or not? Does your HVAC start outside and go straight to your apt., is it brought in from outside fresh and then merely distributed, or is it recirculated?

[Peace06]

6. HVAC System transmission

I have thought the very same. How could it not get everywhere? Pretty darn scary. But, we don't know how long it would live on the A/C material, duct vents and so on. And would it live long enough to transmit on to others? Thinking of this gives me another headache!

[Igel]

10. HEPA HVAC filters should filter it out.

That's the Internet consensus, at least.

It'll live there as long as anywhere--currently viable up to a couple of days has been demonstrated on things like steel. The finding of SARS-CoV-2 after something like 17 days on a ship was ambiguous--did they merely find enough RNA to score a positive on the test or did they check for viability?

The "couple of days" (they were more precise) checked for the ability of the virus to infect cells--no word on if enough survived to infect a person.

This matters. You shouldn't be worried about what amounts to viral wreckage and corpses. It's like a dead lion, it's not going to attack.

You don't need to be worried about low concentrations of the virus. They don't know what that means, actually, but it seems to be true that very low levels of any virus usually doesn't lead to infection.

[Mosby]

8. K and R