Read on Twitter
A few thoughts on the “airborne" conversations right now…First, I ultimately think this comes down more to scicomm & our ability to communicate nuanced situations & data. How we approach airborne vs droplet is antiquated & even more so in how we communicate it… (1/x)
So much of this really plays into healthcare infection control where these situations are approached extremely different. In the community, as @apoorva_nyc @BillHanage emphasized, it& #39;s really the indoor, close setting that sees the super-sreader events involving aerosols (2/x)
This isn& #39;t profoundly new and something @CDCgov @WHO have noted before. To me, this gives us better insight into those super-spreader events and potentially expanding the “exposure" criteria we heavily rely on. (3/x)
I especially appreciate conversations with @JeremyKonyndyk about how this is communicated outside of healthcare (we get really stuck in these terms) and loved @dan_diekema& #39;s awesome SPAT vs CAT blog ( https://bit.ly/2O3gk2k )">https://bit.ly/2O3gk2k&q... approach to give it a newer context (4/x)
This conversation has emphasized a lot of the differences in how epidemiologists/infection preventionists/physicians approach this topic vs aerobiologists/engineers. The siloing actually does more damage and I think we should try & work towards better terms/scicomm (5/x)
I do think it& #39;s important that we note the challenges in providing guidance for a novel organism- it& #39;s easy to criticize @WHO @CDCgov, but they are comprised of dedicated people who are building the bridge as they walk across it & communicating uncertainty right now is hard (6/x)
Ultimately, I think the letter and these conversations point to our need to communicate and update old terms/processes better, but the guidance is similar - wear a mask, be mindful of the environment you& #39;re in and the activities you& #39;re engaging in + duration. (7/x)
This topic will always be heated as it has implications, especially in healthcare settings. I& #39;m grateful for those awesome folks who engage in these convos, seeking to drive change while being mindful of how we communicate the nuances of disease transmission right now (8/8).
