Very interesting experiment, included the use of quite a bit of engineering to simulate exposure to the virus.
My question after reading it was: the recovered viruses (even those that passed through) were able to infect Vero E6 cells, but would they be able to infect animals, should they get exposed to the recovered virus? Vero E6 cells don't have physical barriers (nose/mouth) or an innate immune system.
EDIT: the reason for the question is: is the virus that "goes through" still enough to infect a person, or would it get stopped by the aforementioned obstacles?
> cotton masks, surgical masks, and N95 masks all have a protective effect with respect to the transmission of infective droplets/aerosols of SARS-CoV-2 and that the protective efficiency was higher when masks were worn by a virus spreader. Importantly, medical masks (surgical masks and even N95 masks) were not able to completely block the transmission of virus droplets/aerosols even when completely sealed.
It is highly important for medical workers to know this (because wards contain far more virus than any other place). For the rest, we have to bear in mind a few limitations outlined there, most importantly:
> To allow quantification, we conducted our studies by using a relatively high dose of virus, and under these conditions, it is possible that the protective capacity of the masks was exceeded.
And this:
> In our experiments, the virus was suspended in culture supernatant without fetal calf serum or was diluted with phosphate-buffered saline. Further detailed analysis will be required to reveal the precise relationship between the protective efficiency of masks and the components of viral droplets/aerosols.
I wonder if they are planning experiments with artificial saliva, like those people which tested the stability of the virus under sunlight did.
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 14.1 ms ] threadMy question after reading it was: the recovered viruses (even those that passed through) were able to infect Vero E6 cells, but would they be able to infect animals, should they get exposed to the recovered virus? Vero E6 cells don't have physical barriers (nose/mouth) or an innate immune system.
EDIT: the reason for the question is: is the virus that "goes through" still enough to infect a person, or would it get stopped by the aforementioned obstacles?
The important parts:
> cotton masks, surgical masks, and N95 masks all have a protective effect with respect to the transmission of infective droplets/aerosols of SARS-CoV-2 and that the protective efficiency was higher when masks were worn by a virus spreader. Importantly, medical masks (surgical masks and even N95 masks) were not able to completely block the transmission of virus droplets/aerosols even when completely sealed.
> To allow quantification, we conducted our studies by using a relatively high dose of virus, and under these conditions, it is possible that the protective capacity of the masks was exceeded.
And this:
> In our experiments, the virus was suspended in culture supernatant without fetal calf serum or was diluted with phosphate-buffered saline. Further detailed analysis will be required to reveal the precise relationship between the protective efficiency of masks and the components of viral droplets/aerosols.
I wonder if they are planning experiments with artificial saliva, like those people which tested the stability of the virus under sunlight did.