Background
Major questions remain as to what really drives and how to stop the spread of common respiratory infections. The Airlab formed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . We combine aerosol science, clinical experience, engineering, and physiology to investigate the underlying mechanisms and risk posed from those with respiratory infection.
Viral chest infections pose a substantial risk to patients and healthcare workers, resulting in work absence, economic cost, variable degrees of disability and even death. A failure to recognise the importance of aerosols, airborne transmission and air quality was regarded as one of the major global failing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airborne transmission of viral infection occurs when an infected individual exhales aerosol (virus suspended in air) that is subsequently inhaled and deposited in the lungs of a susceptible individual. There is debate and uncertainity, but growing evidence suggests airborne transmission is the main mode of transmission for many viral respiratory infections. Proving this could lead to widespread changes in infection control protection both within the community, care home and hospital settings.
infection control precautions continue to emphasise large respiratory droplets as the primary risk for transmission. This emphasises hand washing and surface cleaning as first line protection. Aerosol transmission is only considered a threat during medical procedures labelled ‘aerosol generating procedures’ (AGPs). This meant that specific aerosol precautions, such as enhanced environmental ventilation and tight fitting, filtering facemasks were only allocated to those performing specific medical procedures. Applying respiratory physiology, fluid dynamics of aerosol formation and clinical understanding of medical therapies used in acutely unwell patients, we suspected the medical procedures themselves were not the cause for aerosol generation. This distinction is crucial, as current aerosol precautions are targeted at procedures not clinical context or patient physiology.
Our inter-disciplinary team was formed to design a method for sampling exhaled aerosol in healthy human participants in order to investigate the relationship between respiratory physiology and aerosol emission.
Through our shared, collaborative expertise we have the opportunity to radically transform our understanding of a major health burden and develop innovative novel preventive strategies, guidance and technology to both diagnose respiratory infection and prevent it.