Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38443359›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

Frequency, kinetics and determinants of viable SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols from ambulatory COVID-19 patients infected with the Beta, Delta or Omicron variants.

S Jaumdally, M Tomasicchio, A Pooran, A Esmail, A Kotze, S Meier, L Wilson, S Oelofse, C van der Merwe, A Roomaney and 16 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

26 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.

S JaumdallyDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
M TomasicchioDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
A PooranDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
A EsmailDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
A KotzeDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
S MeierDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
L WilsonDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
S OelofseDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
C van der MerweDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
A RoomaneyDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
M DavidsDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
T SulimanDepartment of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
R JosephDivision of Medical Virology, Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases in Africa, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
T PerumalDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-0679-5804
A ScottDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-0647-607X
M ShawDepartment of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-1267-0891
W PreiserDivision of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Stellenbosch Tygerberg Campus; Medical Virology, National Health Laboratory Service Tygerberg, Parow, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-0254-7910
C WilliamsonDivision of Medical Virology, Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases in Africa, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-0125-1226
A GogaHIV and Other Infectious Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
E MayneDepartment of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-6360-3488
G GraySouth African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
P MooreCentre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-8719-4028
A SigalAfrica Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-8571-2004
J LimberisDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Centre, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7893-8416
J MetcalfeDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Centre, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
K DhedaDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Cape Town, South Africa. keertan.dheda@uct.ac.za.ORCID 0000-0001-7709-5341
South African Medical Research Council · ZANational Health Laboratory Service · ZASan Francisco General Hospital · USUniversity of the Western Cape · ZAMax Planck Institute for Infection Biology · DETygerberg Hospital · ZAUniversity of Cape Town · ZA

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/S03563X/1Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust MR/S027777/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 aerosol remains contentious. Importantly, whether cough or breath-generated bioaerosols can harbor viable and replicating virus remains largely unclarified. We performed size-fractionated aerosol sampling (Andersen cascade impactor) and evaluated viral culturability in human cell lines (infectiousness), viral genetics, and host immunity in ambulatory participants with COVID-19. Sixty-one percent (27/44) and 50% (22/44) of participants emitted variant-specific culture-positive aerosols <10μm and <5μm, respectively, for up to 9 days after symptom onset. Aerosol culturability is significantly associated with lower neutralizing antibody titers, and suppression of transcriptomic pathways related to innate immunity and the humoral response. A nasopharyngeal Ct <17 rules-in ~40% of aerosol culture-positives and identifies those who are probably highly infectious. A parsimonious three transcript blood-based biosignature is highly predictive of infectious aerosol generation (PPV > 95%). There is considerable heterogeneity in potential infectiousness i.e., only 29% of participants were probably highly infectious (produced culture-positive aerosols <5μm at ~6 days after symptom onset). These data, which comprehensively confirm variant-specific culturable SARS-CoV-2 in aerosol, inform the targeting of transmission-related interventions and public health containment strategies emphasizing improved ventilation.

Indexed as

COVID-19SARS-CoV-2HumansKineticsRespiratory Aerosols and Droplets

Identifiers

PMID38443359
PMCPMC10914788
OpenAlexW4392473970

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.