The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Inhaling to mitigate exhaled bioaerosols
Open accessAbstract
Humans commonly exhale aerosols comprised of small droplets of airway-lining fluid during normal breathing. These “exhaled bioaerosols” may carry airborne pathogens and thereby magnify the spread of certain infectious diseases, such as influenza, tuberculosis, and severe acute respiratory syndrome. We hypothesize that, by altering lung airway surface properties through an inhaled nontoxic aerosol, we might substantially diminish the number of exhaled bioaerosol droplets and thereby provide a simple means to potentially mitigate the spread of airborne infectious disease independently of the identity of the airborne pathogen or the nature of any specific therapy. We find that some normal human subjects expire many more bioaerosol particles than other individuals during quiet breathing and therefore bear the burden of production of exhaled bioaerosols. Administering nebulized isotonic saline to these “high-producer” individuals diminishes the number of exhaled bioaerosol particles expired by 72.10 ± 8.19% for up to 6 h. In vitro and in vivo experiments with saline and surfactants suggest that the mechanism of action of the nebulized saline relates to modification of the physical properties of the airway-lining fluid, notably surface tension.
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“Normal human subjects and infected individuals release considerable numbers of submicron diameter particles in the exhaled breath. (2-4)”
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“This size range of particles is similar to the size of bioaerosols released by subjects under breathing conditions as reported previously. (2-5)”
Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Edwards, D. A., Man, J. C., Brand, P., Katstra, J. P., Sommerer, K., Stone, H. A., Nardell, E., & Scheuch, G.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2004-12-06
- Volume
- 101
- Issue
- 50
- Pages
- 17383-17388
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC536048
- OpenAlex
- W2143934996
- Cited by
- 362
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Inhalation and Respiratory Drug Delivery
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Keywords
- airborne infectious disease transmission, airway surface liquid, surface tension, airway lining fluid, aerosol mitigation, surfactants, influenza, tuberculosis, SARS
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Inhalation, Aerosols, Communicable Disease Control, Communicable Diseases, Humans, Isotonic Solutions, Nebulizers and Vaporizers, Particle Size, Sodium Chloride, Surface Tension, Viscosity, Exhalation
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