ReviewApplied and environmental microbiology2012
Mechanisms by which ambient humidity may affect viruses in aerosols.
Review in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
100 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A review of strategies and their effectiveness in reducing indoor airborne transmission and improving indoor air quality.Environmental research · 2022Pooled it
- Temporal relationships between climate variables and hand-foot-mouth disease: a multi-province study in the Mekong Delta Region, Vietnam.International journal of biometeorology · 2020Pooled it
- Air Purifier Intervention for Respiratory Viral Exposure in Elementary Schools: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Article
- Environmental temperature and relative humidity shape post-emission aerosol fate and airborne influenza transmission.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Environmental drivers of influenza A and B: causal analysis and forecasting.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Intermediate Relative Humidity Preserves Respiratory Syncytial Virus via a Semi-Solid Bioaerosol State.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Climate change and infectious diseases.Nature medicine · 2026Review
- Assessment of Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1 (BoHV-1) Stability and Infectivity on Copper, Zinc, and Stainless Steel Surfaces.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Influence of Carbon Dioxide and pH on Influenza Virus in Sessile Saliva Droplets.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Inactivation of airborne pathogen surrogates by triethylene glycol.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- A look into the virosphere of clouds: A world yet to be explored.Current research in microbial sciences · 2026Article
- Efficacy of Antimicrobials Against Enveloped and Non-Enveloped Viruses on Porous Materials: A Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Rapid inactivation of aerosolised influenza virus using low-concentration gaseous hypochlorous acid.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Measurements of Surrogate Respiratory Sessile Droplet pH and Implications for Exhaled Respiratory Aerosol and Airborne Disease Transmission.ACS central science · 2025Article
- Capsid and genome damage are the leading inactivation mechanisms of aerosolized porcine respiratory coronavirus at different relative humidities.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- SARS-CoV-2 dynamics in New York City during March 2020-August 2023.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Persistence of Phi6, a SARS-CoV-2 surrogate, in simulated indoor environments: Effects of humidity and material properties.PloS one · 2025Article
- Improving influenza forecast in the tropics and subtropics: a case study of Hong Kong.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Aerosol Fluorescent Labeling via Probe Molecule Volatilization.Analytical chemistry · 2024Article
40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many airborne viruses have been shown to be sensitive to ambient humidity, yet the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remain elusive. We review multiple hypotheses, including water activity, surface inactivation, and salt toxicity, that may account for the association between humidity and viability of viruses in aerosols. We assess the evidence and limitations for each hypothesis based on findings from virology, aerosol science, chemistry, and physics. In addition, we hypothesize that changes in pH within the aerosol that are induced by evaporation may trigger conformational changes of the surface glycoproteins of enveloped viruses and subsequently compromise their infectivity. This hypothesis may explain the differing responses of enveloped viruses to humidity. The precise mechanisms underlying the relationship remain largely unverified, and attaining a complete understanding of them will require an interdisciplinary approach.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.