Former CDC officials criticized agency for unclear message after aerosol misstep

At present, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have stated that the main way for the coronavirus to spread is to ride on respiratory droplets when people are in close contact.

For example, when someone sneezes, coughs, talks, or sings, respiratory droplets form. They do not move far and quickly fall to the ground.

However, on Friday, the CDC website changed to include smaller aerosolized particles as a common way for the coronavirus to spread. These are the smallest particles emitted during exhalation that remain in the air and can travel distances of more than 6 feet.

on Monday, The agency withdrew the updateSaid it was a draft that was posted incorrectly.

Dr. Ali Khan, who directed the public health preparation and response office at the CDC, said Deleted update“Aerial transmission has a small role,” he said.

He says the disease is “mainly” spread by large particles from nearby people. There is a scientific consensus that this seems to be the main mode of infection.

Beyond that, Kahn points out that there are several other ways people can probably get infected with the virus, researchers and health officials agree.

“Occasionally, I get this disease from a contaminated surface,” Khan told Steve Inskipe of the NPR. Morning version.. “And these small particle aerosols have a trivial role … they can be transmitted more than 6 feet away, especially in every corner, especially in poorly ventilated rooms. And finally, perhaps feces. Infection through has an even more important role, so there is nothing new here. “

Still, many environmental engineers and other infectious disease researchers Important in the past for both CDC and WHO They say it’s too late to recognize the role that this type of fine aerosol may play in the spread of the virus, especially indoors.

Kahn is currently the Dean of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

What do you think of this unobtrusive guidance being released and then withdrawn?

I am confused. Therefore, the CDC is not perfect and there have been some mistakes in the past year. However, due to agency considerations, it’s hard to imagine that this is one of them, given the scrutiny they’ve done in all messaging.

And, for example, just last week CDC flip flops Testing for asymptomatic people. We have seen documented evidence of the operation of the official CDC publications. So it’s not difficult to understand those who suspect that these changes may be deliberate interference. [Trump administration].. …

In the process of this outbreak, we have seen the deliberate loss of public health for political purposes. And we have seen many examples of deliberate changes in guidance that are not evidence-based.

Still, can you trust what the CDC tells you?

Unfortunately, it’s hard to trust what the CDC teaches.

And this is very disappointing. Because trust is paramount during a pandemic. Regardless of this small role of aerosol propagation, as we say, we can stop this outbreak on the track with “test, trace, isolation” using the tools we have available today. .. And play our role [by] Wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay socially distant. And this trust will be even more important when we instruct people to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated-hopefully sometime from the end of this year to next year.

I want to know if the practical advice after all this confusion is basically the same, as far as you can see. 6 feet away. Please wear a mask. Such that.

correct. Guidance does not change. Therefore, there are many sophisticated and excellent aerobiology studies that look at what happens when you sneeze or cough, how far these particles have traveled, and whether they carry the virus.

However, we find that we can control the disease by wearing a mask and combining it with a public health strategy that examines, isolates, and tracks people.

Taylor Haney has created an audio interview.

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