Analysis of Infection Transmission Routes through Exhaled Breath and Cough Particle Dispersion in a General Hospital

Minji Jung, Woong June Chung, Minki Sung, Seongmin Jo and Jinkwan Hong
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Minji Jung: Department of HVAC System and Fire Protection Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Korea
Woong June Chung: Department of HVAC System and Fire Protection Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Korea
Minki Sung: Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Seongmin Jo: Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Jinkwan Hong: Department of HVAC System and Fire Protection Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Identifying infection transmission routes in hospitals may prevent the spread of respiratory viruses and mass infections. Most previous related research focused on the air movement of passive tracers, which typically represent breathing. In this study, particle evaporation and dispersions with various particle sizes were applied to evaluate particle movement because of breathing and coughing using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Pyeongtaek St. Mary Hospital, where a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) index patient infected several patients on the same floor, was used for a case study. We compared the dispersion characteristics of various particle sizes and validated results by comparing infection rates in different ward. Results indicated that droplets spread across the corridor and dispersed to wards that were more than 17 m apart from the index patient by natural ventilation. Droplets from exhaled breath under steady-state simulation showed a wider range of dispersion than cough droplets under transient simulation, but cough droplet dispersion was more consistent with the actual infection rate in each ward. Cough droplets sized under 75 µm evaporated to 26% of the initial size and started to disperse into the corridor within one minute; in nine minutes, droplets dispersed throughout every ward. This study may increase awareness on the dispersion characteristics of infectious particles.

Keywords: transmission routes; evaporation; computational fluid dynamics; Middle East respiratory syndrome; cough droplets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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