Transmission of Influenza A in a Student Office Based on Realistic Person-to-Person Contact and Surface Touch Behaviour.

Nan Zhang,Yuguo Li

doi:10.3390/ijerph15081699

Abstract

Influenza A viruses result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide each year. In this study, influenza A transmission in a graduate student office is simulated via long-range airborne, fomite, and close contact routes based on real data from more than 3500 person-to-person contacts and 127,000 surface touches obtained by video-camera. The long-range airborne, fomite and close contact routes contribute to 54.3%, 4.2% and 44.5% of influenza A infections, respectively. For the fomite route, 59.8%, 38.1% and 2.1% of viruses are transmitted to the hands of students from private surfaces around the infected students, the students themselves and other susceptible students, respectively. The intranasal dose via fomites of the students’ bodies, belongings, computers, desks, chairs and public facilities are 8.0%, 6.8%, 13.2%, 57.8%, 9.3% and 4.9%, respectively. The intranasal dose does not monotonously increase or decrease with the virus transfer rate between hands and surfaces. Mask wearing is much more useful than hand washing for control of influenza A in the tested office setting. Regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces, which can reduce the infection risk by 2.14%, is recommended and is much more efficient than hand-washing.

Highlights

Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness that causes 1,250,000 deaths annually worldwide [1]
Public surfaces are dirtier than the private surfaces of susceptible students, and they play important roles in the spread of infection like hubs in the surface touch network
We found that 94.9% of the infection risk can be reduced if an N95 mask is tightly sealed on the infected student, which is very useful in influenza A

Summary

Introduction

Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness that causes 1,250,000 deaths annually worldwide [1]. It is estimated that influenza A viruses result in the deaths of approximately half a million individuals worldwide every year [2]. The influenza virus is known to be spread from person to person by at least two mechanisms: direct and indirect transfer of respiratory secretions and contact with large droplets that settle onto fomites [5]. Studies have shown that influenza A may be transmitted by inhalation of small airborne particles [6]. Other studies have found that the fomite route could be a potential route of influenza transmission [11]. Influenza A can be spread via the airborne, droplet and direct and indirect contact routes

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion