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IMAGE: Surfaces with taller and closely packed pillars with a contact angle of around 60 degrees show the strongest antiviral effect or shortest drying time. view more
Credit: S. Chatterjee, J.S. Murallidharan, A. Agrawal, and R. Bhardwaj
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2021 If a respiratory droplet from a person infected with COVID-19 lands on a surface, it becomes a possible source of disease spread. This is known as the fomite route of disease spread, in which the aqueous phase of the respiratory droplet serves as a medium for virus survival.
The lifespan of the respiratory droplet dictates how likely a surface is to spread a virus. While 99.9% of the droplet s liquid content evaporates within a few minutes, a residual thin film that allows the virus to survive can be left behind.
The novel coronavirus may survive for far lesser time on porous surfaces such as paper and clothes than on impermeable surfaces like glass and plastic, a study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay suggests.
NEW DELHI: The novel coronavirus may survive for far lesser time on porous surfaces such as paper and clothes than on impermeable surfaces like glass and plastic, a study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay suggests.
COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is transmitted through respiratory droplets. The virus-laden droplets also form fomite upon falling on a surface, which serves as a source for infection spread.
In the study, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, the researchers analysed the drying of droplets on impermeable and porous surfaces.
They found that a droplet remains liquid for a much shorter time on a porous surface, making it less favourable to the survival of the virus.