COVID-19 is transmitted through dust or aerosol: Pediatric experts speak out

SKĐS - In response to information that COVID-19 can be transmitted through aerosol - a treatment method commonly applied to young children, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Minh Dien - Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital warned people to only use aerosol for children when prescribed by a doctor and must comply with strict infection control procedures, not arbitrarily giving aerosol to children.

Talking to PV suckhoedoisong.vn about this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Minh Dien - Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital said that if only one person uses an aerosol can, it is fine; but if two people share it, they will get infected.

According to experts, COVID-19 can be spread through aerosols - a method of treatment, not "dust" as the press translates and not through "air" as the public understands.

On the other hand, if the aerosol in the sick room has a sick person within a distance of 2 meters, the disease will be transmitted because the virus from the sick person's respiratory tract will be released through the aerosol. Therefore, it will be transmitted to people around.

"Therefore, it is necessary to limit aerosol use, unless prescribed by a doctor. When using aerosol, technical procedures for infection control must be followed.

Furthermore, the virus will still exist in the aerosol, machine and surface of objects around the patient, with the risk of infection due to surface contact. Medical staff performing this procedure on patients are also at risk of infection if they do not strictly follow the technical process of infection control," said Associate Professor Dien.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Minh Dien.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy - Head of the Department of Pediatrics, Hanoi Medical University also said that aerosol is an airborne transmission in the form of small mist particles. These small mist particles from the nebulizer can float in the air, and people nearby who inhale high concentrations will be at risk of infection.

According to Dr. Truong Huu Khanh - Department of Infectious Diseases - Neurology, Children's Hospital 1, "aerosol", the new source of transmission that Shanghai scientists warned about in this context should be translated as "aerosol", "dust" is not accurate and there is no way it can fly around in the normal air because aerosol is only used in medical facilities!

Therefore, the people who need to pay attention to this new discovery are hospitals and medical facilities when using aerosol to treat patients.

Image of aerosol diffusion. Illustration.

Previously, speaking at a press conference in Shanghai (China) on February 8, Mr. Zeng Qun - Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, said that medical and epidemic prevention experts have determined that COVID-19 can be transmitted through aerosols, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Some information says that aerosol is "dust gas" but according to experts, aerosol is a treatment method, the Vietnamese name is "aerosol".

Nebulization is a method of using a machine to diffuse medicine in the form of mist, affecting the upper or lower respiratory tract mucosal system. This is a local treatment method for diseases of the respiratory tract mucosa such as laryngitis, rhinopharyngitis, tracheobronchitis, sinusitis, etc. When inhaling, the medicine in the form of mist created by the machine will be pushed to adhere to the cilia on the respiratory tract mucosa. Thanks to that, the medicine will directly affect the infected areas.

So COVID-19 can be spread through aerosols - a method of treatment, not "dust" as the press translates and not through "air" as the public understands.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/covid-19-lay-qua-bui-khi-hay-khi-dung-chuyen-gia-nhi-khoa-len-tieng-169168681.htm