ReviewThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2021
Importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions in lowering the viral inoculum to reduce susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV-2 and potentially disease severity.
Review in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Intervention Effectiveness of Health Behaviors During COVID-19: A Systematic Review and a Network Meta-Analysis.PsyCh journal · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 reduced the incidence of infectious diseases: a controlled interrupted time-series study.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Pooled it
- High association of COVID-19 severity with poor gut health score in Lebanese patients.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Epidemiology ofFrontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on sociodemographic groups: A mathematical model framework.PloS one · 2026Article
- Should public health policy exempt cases with low viral load from isolation during an epidemic?: a modelling study.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- Changing socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence and case fatality rates of COVID-19 in Germany, March 2020 through May 2022: an ecological study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Reduced SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates in Lab Workers Conducting Nucleic Acid Testing: Controlling for the Healthy Worker Effect.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2025Article
- Changes in children respiratory infections pre and post COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Linking Opinions Shared on Social Media About COVID-19 Public Health Measures to Adherence: Repeated Cross-Sectional Surveys of Twitter Use in Canada.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Epidemiological study of post-pandemic pediatric common respiratory pathogens using multiplex detection.Virology journal · 2024Article
- Symptom propagation in respiratory pathogens of public health concern: a review of the evidence.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Review
- Epidemiological and health economic implications of symptom propagation in respiratory pathogens: A mathematical modelling investigation.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Epidemiological characteristics of respiratory viruses in children during the COVID-19 epidemic in Chengdu, China.Microbiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Article
- Bioinformatic analysis of defective viral genomes in SARS-CoV-2 and its impact on population infection characteristics.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Propylene glycol inactivates respiratory viruses and prevents airborne transmission.EMBO molecular medicine · 2023Article
- Within-host diversity improves phylogenetic and transmission reconstruction of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.eLife · 2023Article
- XBB.1.5 Kraken cracked: Gibbs energies of binding and biosynthesis of the XBB.1.5 variant of SARS-CoV-2.Microbiological research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been highly variable across settings, particularly in the USA. In this Personal View, we review data supporting the importance of the viral inoculum (the dose of viral particles from an infected source over time) in increasing the probability of infection in respiratory, gastrointestinal, and sexually transmitted viral infections in humans. We also review the available evidence linking the relationship of the viral inoculum to disease severity. Non-pharmaceutical interventions might reduce the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection by reducing the viral inoculum when there is exposure to an infectious source. Data from physical sciences research suggest that masks protect the wearer by filtering virus from external sources, and others by reducing expulsion of virus by the wearer. Social distancing, handwashing, and improved ventilation also reduce the exposure amount of viral particles from an infectious source. Maintaining and increasing non-pharmaceutical interventions can help to quell SARS-CoV-2 as we enter the second year of the pandemic. Finally, we argue that even as safe and effective vaccines are being rolled out, non-pharmaceutical interventions will continue to play an essential role in suppressing SARS-CoV-2 transmission until equitable and widespread vaccine administration has been completed.
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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.