家庭中的甲流感染一半以上是由長時間懸浮在空氣中的呼吸飛沫（來自呼吸的小液滴）傳播的,。本期Nature Communications上發(fā)表的這一發(fā)現(xiàn)可幫助制定減少傳播的可能措施。在過去,，這些措施注重減少接觸傳播或大液滴傳播,。
甲流病毒通過接觸由感染者在咳嗽或打噴嚏過程中排出的呼吸飛沫傳播。流行病學(xué)家將呼吸液滴（飛沫）分成較大液滴和較小的傳染性液滴：前者在距傳播源1-2米內(nèi)會落到地面,；后者直徑小于5微米,，能較長時間懸浮在空氣中，被稱為氣溶膠,。Benjamin Cowling及其同事以這樣一個假設(shè)為基礎(chǔ)：流感的臨床表現(xiàn)因傳播模式的不同而不同——氣溶膠化的甲流病毒引起更像典型流感的癥狀,，表現(xiàn)為發(fā)燒和咳嗽；基于大分子的甲流病毒只表現(xiàn)出發(fā)燒癥狀,。
據(jù)此,，他們建立了一個數(shù)學(xué)模型，來推斷每種傳播模式對甲流病毒在家庭中傳播的貢獻,。他們利用來自在香港和曼谷的家庭中所進行的兩個隨機化試驗（一個是手部衛(wèi)生,；另一個是戴口罩）的數(shù)據(jù)來確認該模型，發(fā)現(xiàn)用來防止傳播的,、與手和臉相關(guān)的措施并未實質(zhì)性地改變家庭接觸的總體傳染風(fēng)險,。這表明，氣溶膠傳播可能是甲流病毒在住在一起的人員之間傳播的主導(dǎo)性模式,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1038/ncomms2922
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Aerosol transmission is an important mode of influenza A virus spread
Benjamin J. Cowling, Dennis K. M. Ip, Vicky J. Fang, Piyarat Suntarattiwong, Sonja J. Olsen, Jens Levy, Timothy M. Uyeki, Gabriel M. Leung, J. S. Malik Peiris, Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, Hiroshi Nishiura & James Mark Simmerman
Influenza A viruses are believed to spread between humans through contact, large respiratory droplets and small particle droplet nuclei (aerosols), but the relative importance of each of these modes of transmission is unclear. Volunteer studies suggest that infections via aerosol transmission may have a higher risk of febrile illness. Here we apply a mathematical model to data from randomized controlled trials of hand hygiene and surgical face masks in Hong Kong and Bangkok households. In these particular environments, inferences on the relative importance of modes of transmission are facilitated by information on the timing of secondary infections and apparent differences in clinical presentation of secondary infections resulting from aerosol transmission. We find that aerosol transmission accounts for approximately half of all transmission events. This implies that measures to reduce transmission by contact or large droplets may not be sufficient to control influenza A virus transmission in households.
