Existing epidemiological models of infectious respiratory diseases do not take into account the physics
underlying disease transmission. Svetaprovo Chaudhuri, Professor of Engineering, University of Toronto
But fluids and their dynamics are critical to the formation of pathogens that influence the transmission of infectious diseases.
Lydia Bourouiba, Director of the Laboratory of Fluid DynamicsMIT's Disease Transmission Program, explained that when a person exhales, they don't just exhale isolated droplets, they release a turbulent multiphase cloud. This, according to Bourouiba, is crucial for expanding the range and changing the physics of droplet evaporation within this range.
Bourouiba gave examples of several infectious diseasesdiseases, including COVID-19. When disease carriers inhale, the process involves varying rates of air movement—and that doesn't include droplets of saliva.
To calculate how much timeit would take viral droplets to reach you indoors, the team used mathematical equations commonly used in the perfume industry. Perfume sprayed on by the person at the next table or booth will reach your nose thanks to turbulence in the air. Small droplets scattered by the infected person spread in the same way.
This showed us how useless most social distancing rules are when we're indoors.
Research text
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