Correo Electrónico
DNINFOA - SIA
Bibliotecas
Convocatorias
Identidad U.N.
Published
COVID-19 is in the air: Why are we still ignoring the importance of ventilation?
El COVID-19 está en el aire: ¿por qué seguimos ignorando la importancia de la ventilación?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/ing.investig.v41n3.97492Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Transmission, Pandemic, Ventilation (en)SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, transmisión, pandemia, ventilación (es)
The main transmission mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is airborne, particularly in poorly ventilated indoor environments. Recognizing the importance of this mechanism has taken a long time, despite the evidence generated by aerosol scientists from an early stage of the pandemic. Hence, measures applied more widely by the population have focused on the disinfection of surfaces, often in an exaggerated way, while measures focused on reducing the concentration of aerosols in indoor environments, such as adequate ventilation and air filtration, have been timidly promoted. In addition to the progress of the National Vaccination Plan, it is necessary to intensify transmission prevention measures for a safer reopening of the economy. It is therefore urgent, to educate and generate clear guidelines for the evaluation and improvement of ventilation in indoor spaces.
El principal mecanismo de transmisión del virus SARS-CoV-2 es por vía aérea, particularmente en ambientes interiores mal ventilados. Reconocer la importancia de este mecanismo ha tomado mucho tiempo, a pesar de la evidencia generada por científicos de aerosoles desde una etapa temprana de la pandemia. Por lo tanto, las medidas aplicadas con mayor rigor por la población se han centrado en la desinfección de las superficies, muchas veces de manera exagerada, mientras que las medidas centradas en reducir la concentración de aerosoles en ambientes interiores, tales como una adecuada ventilación y la filtración de aire, han sido promovidas muy tímidamente. Además de los avances en el Plan Nacional de Vacunación, es necesario intensificar las medidas de prevención del contagio para una reapertura de la economía más segura. Es urgente, por lo tanto, educar y generar lineamientos claros para la evaluación y el mejoramiento de la ventilación en espacios interiores.
References
Aireamos (2021). Carta a los gobiernos sobre prevención de COVID. https://www.aireamos.org/carta-a-los-gobiernos-sobre-prevencion-de-covid/
Allen, J. G. e Ibrahim, A. M. (2021) Indoor Air Changes and Potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission. JAMA Insights, 325(20), 2112–2113. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.5053
van Doremalen N., Morris, D. H., Holbrook, M. G., Gamble, A., Williamson, B. N., Tamin, A., Harcourt, J. L., Thornburg, N. J.,
Gerber, S. I., Lloyd-Smith, J. O., de Wit, E., and Munster, V. J. (2020). Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(16), 1564-1567. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
Greenhalgh, T., Jimenez, J. L., Prather, K. A., Tufekci, Z., Fisman, D., y Schooley, R. (2021). Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The Lancet, 397(10285), 1603-1605. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00869-2
di Gilio, A., Palmisano, J., Pulimeno, M., Cerino, F., Cacace, M., Miani, A. y de Gennaro, G. (2021). CO2 concentration monitoring inside educational buildings as a strategic tool to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission, Environmental Research, 202111560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111560
Health Care Workers Australia (2021). National action on aerosol transmission of COVID-19. https://healthcareworkersaustralia.com/national-action-on-aerosol-transmission-of-covid-19/
Hu, B., Guo, H., Zhou, P., and Shi, Z. L. (2021). Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 19, 141-154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7
Ives M, Mandavilli A. (2020). Si el coronavirus está en el aire, ¿por qué seguimos limpiando superficies interiores?. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/es/2020/11/23/espanol/coronavirus-desinfectante.html.
Morawska, L. y Milton, D. K. (2020). It Is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Clinical Infectious Diseases, 71(9), 2311-2313. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa939
Nodo de Salud Ocupacional y Ambiental de Colombia (Nodo SAO Colombia) (2021). Carta abierta al Ministro de Salud y Protección Social sobre la actualización de la Resolución 666 de 2020. https://nodosaocolombia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021-COVID-19-Carta-abierta-a-Minsalud-actualizacion-Res-666.pdf
Organización Mundial de la Salud (2020a). WHO Timeline COVID-19. https://www.who.int/news/item/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) (2020b). Modes of transmission of virus causing COVID-19: implications for IPC precaution recommendations: scientific brief. https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) (2021). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted? https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted
O’Leary N. (2021) Belgium imposes ventilation rules for businesses to combat new Covid surge. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/belgium-imposes-ventilation-rules-for-businesses-to-combat-new-covid-surge-1.4612101
Peng, Z. y Jiménez, J. L. (2021) Exhaled CO2 as a COVID-19 Infection Risk Proxy for Different Indoor Environments and Activities. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 8(5), 392-397. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00183
Royal College of Nursing (2021). Letter to the Prime Minister on protecting health care workers. https://www.rcn.org.uk/about-us/our-influencing-work/open-letters/letter-to-the-prime-minister-on-protecting-health-care-workers-190221
Tang, J. W., Marr, L. C., Li, Y. y Dancer, S. J. (2021). Covid-19 has redefined airborne transmission. British Medical Journal, 373, 913. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n913
How to Cite
APA
ACM
ACS
ABNT
Chicago
Harvard
IEEE
MLA
Turabian
Vancouver
Download Citation
CrossRef Cited-by
Dimensions
PlumX
Article abstract page views
Downloads
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Nestor Y. Rojas, Laura A. Rodríguez-Villamizar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors or holders of the copyright for each article hereby confer exclusive, limited and free authorization on the Universidad Nacional de Colombia's journal Ingeniería e Investigación concerning the aforementioned article which, once it has been evaluated and approved, will be submitted for publication, in line with the following items:
1. The version which has been corrected according to the evaluators' suggestions will be remitted and it will be made clear whether the aforementioned article is an unedited document regarding which the rights to be authorized are held and total responsibility will be assumed by the authors for the content of the work being submitted to Ingeniería e Investigación, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and third-parties;
2. The authorization conferred on the journal will come into force from the date on which it is included in the respective volume and issue of Ingeniería e Investigación in the Open Journal Systems and on the journal's main page (https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/ingeinv), as well as in different databases and indices in which the publication is indexed;
3. The authors authorize the Universidad Nacional de Colombia's journal Ingeniería e Investigación to publish the document in whatever required format (printed, digital, electronic or whatsoever known or yet to be discovered form) and authorize Ingeniería e Investigación to include the work in any indices and/or search engines deemed necessary for promoting its diffusion;
4. The authors accept that such authorization is given free of charge and they, therefore, waive any right to receive remuneration from the publication, distribution, public communication and any use whatsoever referred to in the terms of this authorization.
