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Transmission routes of respiratory viruses among humans
Open accessAbstract
Respiratory tract infections can be caused by a wide variety of viruses. Airborne transmission via droplets and aerosols enables some of these viruses to spread efficiently among humans, causing outbreaks that are difficult to control. Many outbreaks have been investigated retrospectively to study the possible routes of inter-human virus transmission. The results of these studies are often inconclusive and at the same time data from controlled experiments is sparse. Therefore, fundamental knowledge on transmission routes that could be used to improve intervention strategies is still missing. We here present an overview of the available data from experimental and observational studies on the transmission routes of respiratory viruses between humans, identify knowledge gaps, and discuss how the available knowledge is currently implemented in isolation guidelines in health care settings.
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“Physical interventions, such as the use of masks and physical distancing measures, might prevent the spread of respiratory viruses which are considered to be transmitted by multiple modes of transmission including by respiratory particles of varying sizes spreading from infected to susceptible people and through direct and indirect contact (Kutter 2018; Leung 2021).”
From Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (2023) · cites this paper as Kutter 2018
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“In addition, transmission of respiratory viruses is likely highly complex, dependent on multiple host, virus and environmental factors, plus the myriad of interactions between these factors, which may influence the predominant modes of transmission in any given setting (Broderick 2008; Hendley 1988; Kutter 2018; Leung 2021).”
From Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses (2023) · cites this paper as Kutter 2018
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Comber, L., Murchú, É. Ó., Drummond, L., Carty, P. G., Walsh, K. A., Gascun, C. F. D., Connolly, M. A., Smith, S. M., O’Neill, M., Ryan, M., et al. (2020) · Reviews in Medical Virology · doi:10.1002/rmv.2184 · Cited by 75
Polymer Materials for Respiratory Protection: Processing, End Use, and Testing Methods
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Stability and transmissibility of SARS‐CoV‐2 in the environment
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“Transmission through droplets and aerosols are both classified as airborne transmission.(3) Droplets and aerosols are conventionally distinguished by size (5 μm), delineating distinct characteristics such as dispersion”
BackgroundDistinguishing viruses responsible for influenza-like illness
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Stability and Viability of SARS-CoV-2
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Tan, K. S., Lim, R. L., Liu, J., Ong, H. H., Tan, V. J., Lim, H. F., Chung, K. F., Adcock, I. M., Chow, V. T. K., & Wang, D. Y. (2020) · Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · doi:10.3389/fcell.2020.00099 · Cited by 75
“One of the reasons for the involvement of respiratory viruses' in exacerbations is their ease of transmission and infection (Kutter et al., 2018) .”
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Airborne Transmission of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus: A Review of Past and Present Perspectives
Brown, E., Nelson, N., Gubbins, S., & Colenutt, C. (2022) · Viruses · doi:10.3390/v14051009 · Cited by 72
“It is generally accepted that droplet transmission is a form of direct contact transmission in which respiratory droplets measuring > 5 μm in diameter travel directly from the respiratory tract of an infectious host to a susceptible host, over short distances (<1 m) [13,14].”
BackgroundEffectiveness of Ozone Gas on Airborne Virus Inactivation in Enclosed Spaces: A Review Study
Alimohammadi, M., & Naderi, M. (2020) · Ozone Science and Engineering · doi:10.1080/01919512.2020.1822149 · Cited by 70
The ventilation of buildings and other mitigating measures for COVID-19: a focus on wintertime.
Burridge, H. C., Bhagat, R. K., Stettler, M. E. J., Kumar, P., Mel, I. D., Demis, P., Hart, A., Johnson-Llambias, Y., King, M., Victorovich, K. O., et al. (2021) · Apollo (University of Cambridge) · doi:10.17863/cam.66124 · Cited by 69
On-site airborne pathogen detection for infection risk mitigation
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Mucins Inhibit Coronavirus Infection in a Glycan-Dependent Manner
Wardzala, C. L., Wood, A. M., Belnap, D. M., & Kramer, J. R. (2022) · ACS Central Science · doi:10.1021/acscentsci.1c01369 · Cited by 72
Environmental and decontamination issues for human coronaviruses and their potential surrogates
Cimolai, N. (2020) · Journal of Medical Virology · doi:10.1002/jmv.26170 · Cited by 65
“Risk increases proportionate to patient proximity.(73,74) CoVs are certainly capable of spread within such distance, but a concern is whether”
BackgroundMarkandan, K., Tiong, Y. W., Sankaran, R., Sakthinathan, S., Markandan, U. D., Chaudhary, V., Numan, A., Khalid, M., & Walvekar, R. (2022) · Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews · doi:10.1080/02648725.2022.2127070 · Cited by 65
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Exosome therapeutics for COVID‐19 and respiratory viruses
Popowski, K. D., Dinh, P., George, A., Lutz, H., & Cheng, K. (2021) · Open Research (University of Surrey) · doi:10.1002/viw.20200186 · Cited by 64
Patterns of SARS-CoV-2 aerosol spread in typical classrooms
Rencken, G. K., Rutherford, E. K., Ghanta, N., Kongoletos, J., & Glicksman, L. R. (2021) · Building and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108167 · Cited by 63
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“The respiratory viruses spread efficiently among humans through the air, via droplets (aerosol) or via direct or indirect contact with contaminated people, or via contaminated hands and objects, causing outbreaks that are difficult to control [9].”
BackgroundFiltration efficiency of a large set of COVID-19 face masks commonly used in Brazil
Morais, F. G., Sakano, V. K., de Lima, L. N., Franco, M. A., Reis, D. C., Zanchetta, L. M., Jorge, F., Landulfo, E., Catalani, L. H., Barbosa, H. M. J., et al. (2021) · Aerosol Science and Technology · doi:10.1080/02786826.2021.1915466 · Cited by 66
HIV and COVID-19 co-infection: A mathematical model and optimal control
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“The primary modes of transmission for COVID-19 are inhalation of infectious respiratory droplets and touching of contaminated body parts or surfaces followed by ingestion of the pathogen [4,10,11].”
Probiotic Effects against Virus Infections: New Weapons for an Old War
López-Santamarina, A., Lamas, A., Mondragón, A. D. C., Cardelle‐Cobas, A., Regal, P., Rodríguez, J. A., Miranda, J. M., Franco, C. M., & Cepeda, A. (2021) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods10010130 · Cited by 61
“These viruses spread easily between humans due to airborne transmission through aerosols, causing outbreaks that are very difficult to control [30].”
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“by 59 self-inoculation of mucous membranes (mouth, eyes) by contaminated hands (1).”
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“Both replicate in human respiratory epithelium and are transmitted by aerosols and droplets (Kutter et al., 2018).”
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“Because common childhood respiratory viruses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2 share similar routes and means of transmission, these NPIs prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 are also likely to affect the epidemiology of common childhood respiratory viruses to some extent [10].”
Dental care management during the COVID‐19 outbreak
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A clinical study measuring dental aerosols with and without a high-volume extraction device
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Risk mapping for COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia using mobility data
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“Similar to other respiratory pathogens such as influenza, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs when infected and susceptible individuals are co-located and have physical contact, or exchange bioaerosols or droplets [1, 2].”
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Electrostatic interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and a charged electret fibre
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Airborne transmission of pathogen-laden expiratory droplets in open outdoor space
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Additive manufacturing in fighting against novel coronavirus COVID-19
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“Non-enveloped viruses are less sus-ceptibletolipophilicdisinfectionandcanpersistonhandsandfomites forlongerperiodsoftimethanenvelopedviruses 38,39 .”
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“Aerosols are usually generated during medical treatment, and can also be produced by coughing, sneezing, and talking (Kutter et al., 2018; Stadnytskyi et al., 2020; Anfinrud et al., 2020).”
Hand Hygiene Practices and the Risk of Human Coronavirus Infections in a UK Community Cohort
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“Some of the most pathogenic viruses such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus and coronavirus can be aerosolised [2].”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Kutter, J. S., Spronken, M. I., Fraaij, P. L., Fouchier, R. A., & Herfst, S.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Herfst, Sander
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Virology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-02
- Volume
- 28
- Pages
- 142-151
- ISSN
- 1879-6257 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7102683
- OpenAlex
- W2786432367
- Cited by
- 611
- References
- 136
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 98 · 2021: 153 · 2020: 137 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 7
- FWCI
- 13.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Virology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Seventh Framework Programme (602525)
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (91715372)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Respiratory viral infections research
- Keywords
- respiratory viruses, human-to-human transmission, transmission routes, airborne transmission, droplet transmission, respiratory infections, outbreak investigation, infection control, knowledge gaps
- MeSH terms
- Aerosols, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Influenza, Human, Measles virus, Influenza A virus, Respiratory Tract Infections, Retrospective Studies, Virus Diseases, Observational Studies as Topic
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