ArticleViruses2021
Efficacy of Ventilation, HEPA Air Cleaners, Universal Masking, and Physical Distancing for Reducing Exposure to Simulated Exhaled Aerosols in a Meeting Room.
Article in Viruses, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Managing infectious aerosols to counter engineered pandemics: Current recommendations and future research.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2025Guideline
- Rental housing may contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in upper respiratory infections.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Metagenomic profiling of airborne microbial communities from aircraft filters and face masks.Microbiome · 2025Article
- Factors Affecting Reduction of Infectious Aerosols by Far-UVC and Portable HEPA Air Cleaners.ACS ES&T air · 2025Article
- A CFD study on the effect of portable air cleaner placement on airborne infection control in a classroom.Environmental science. Processes & impacts · 2024Article
- Distribution of COVID-19 mitigation measures by industry and work arrangement-US blood donors, May 2021-December 2021.American journal of industrial medicine · 2024Article
- Reduction of acute respiratory infections in day-care by non-pharmaceutical interventions: a narrative review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Real-World Effectiveness of Portable Air Cleaners in Reducing Home Particulate Matter Concentrations.Aerosol and air quality research · 2024Article
- Between-occupation differences in work-related COVID-19 mitigation strategies over time: Analysis of the Virus Watch Cohort in England and Wales.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2023Article
- Extensive Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant among Vaccinated Persons during 7-Day River Cruise, the Netherlands.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Assessment of aerosol persistence in ICUs via low-cost sensor network and zonal models.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Efficacy of Do-It-Yourself air filtration units in reducing exposure to simulated respiratory aerosols.Building and environment · 2023Article
- If you can't measure it, you can't improve it: Practical tools to assess ventilation and airflow patterns to reduce the risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and other airborne pathogens.Infection control and hospital epidemiology · 2022Article
- Active Air Interventions.The Bridge · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
There is strong evidence associating the indoor environment with transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 can spread by exposure to droplets and very fine aerosol particles from respiratory fluids that are released by infected persons. Layered mitigation strategies, including but not limited to maintaining physical distancing, adequate ventilation, universal masking, avoiding overcrowding, and vaccination, have shown to be effective in reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 within the indoor environment. Here, we examine the effect of mitigation strategies on reducing the risk of exposure to simulated respiratory aerosol particles within a classroom-style meeting room. To quantify exposure of uninfected individuals (Recipients), surrogate respiratory aerosol particles were generated by a breathing simulator with a headform (Source) that mimicked breath exhalations. Recipients, represented by three breathing simulators with manikin headforms, were placed in a meeting room and affixed with optical particle counters to measure 0.3-3 µm aerosol particles. Universal masking of all breathing simulators with a 3-ply cotton mask reduced aerosol exposure by 50% or more compared to scenarios with simulators unmasked. While evaluating the effect of Source placement, Recipients had the highest exposure at 0.9 m in a face-to-face orientation. Ventilation reduced exposure by approximately 5% per unit increase in air change per hour (ACH), irrespective of whether increases in ACH were by the HVAC system or portable HEPA air cleaners. The results demonstrate that mitigation strategies, such as universal masking and increasing ventilation, reduce personal exposure to respiratory aerosols within a meeting room. While universal masking remains a key component of a layered mitigation strategy of exposure reduction, increasing ventilation via system HVAC or portable HEPA air cleaners further reduces exposure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.