A paradigm shift to combat indoor respiratory infection

Morawska, Lidia; Allen, Joseph; Bahnfleth, William; Bluyssen, Philomena M.; Boerstra, Atze; Buonanno, Giorgio; Cao, Junji; Dancer, Stephanie J.; Floto, Andres; Franchimon, Francesco; Greenhalgh, Trisha; Haworth, Charles; Hogeling, Jaap; Isaxon, Christina; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kurnitski, Jarek; Li, Yuguo; Loomans, Marcel; Marks, Guy; Marr, Linsey C.; Mazzarella, Livio; Krikor Melikov, Arsen; Miller, Shelly; Milton, Donald K.; Nazaroff, William; Nielsen, Peter V.; Noakes, Catherine; Peccia, Jordan; Prather, Kim; Querol, Xavier; Sekhar, Chandra; Sepp�nen, Olli; Tanabe, Shin-ichi; Tang, Julian W.; Tellier, Raymond; Wai Tham, Kwok; Wargocki, Pawel; Wierzbicka, Aneta; Yao, Maosheng

Abstract

There is great disparity in the way we think about and address different sources of environmental infection. Governments have for decades promulgated a large amount of legislation and invested heavily in food safety, sanitation, and drinking water for public health purposes. By contrast, airborne pathogens and respiratory infections, whether seasonal influenza or COVID-19, are addressed fairly weakly, if at all, in terms of regulations, standards, and building design and operation, pertaining to the air we breathe. We suggest that the rapid growth in our understanding of the mechanisms behind respiratory infection transmission should drive a paradigm shift in how we view and address the transmission of respiratory infections to protect against unnecessary suffering and economic losses. It starts with a recognition that preventing respiratory infection, like reducing waterborne or foodborne disease, is a tractable problem.

• Journal Article Type: Commentary
• Acceptance Date: May 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: May 14, 2021
• Publication Date: May 14, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 2, 2021
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 372
• Issue: 6543
• Pages: 689-691
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg2025
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2772556
• Publisher URL: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/689