世衛(wèi)組織審查有關(guān)冠狀病毒通過空氣傳播的“最新”證據(jù)

世衛(wèi)組織審查有關(guān)冠狀病毒通過空氣傳播的“最新”證據(jù)

The World Health Organization says the virus that causes COVID-19 doesn't seem to linger in the air or be capable of spreading through the air over distances of more than about 3 feet.

世界衛(wèi)生組織表示，導(dǎo)致COVID-19的病毒似乎不存在于空氣中，也不可能通過空氣傳播超過3英尺的距離。

But at least one expert in virus transmission said it's way too soon to know that.

但至少有一位病毒傳播方面的專家表示，現(xiàn)在要了解這一點還為時過早。

"I think the WHO is being irresponsible in giving out that information. This misinformation is dangerous," says Dr. Donald Milton, an infectious disease aerobiologist at the University of Maryland's School of Public Health.

“我認(rèn)為世衛(wèi)組織公布這些信息是不負(fù)責(zé)任的。這種錯誤的信息是危險的，”馬里蘭大學(xué)公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院的傳染病空氣生物學(xué)家唐納德·米爾頓博士說。

The WHO says that "according to current evidence," the virus is transmitted through "respiratory droplets and contact routes." By that, the agency means the virus is found in the kind of big droplets of mucus or saliva created through coughing and sneezing.

世衛(wèi)組織說，“根據(jù)目前的證據(jù)”，這種病毒是通過“呼吸道飛沫和接觸途徑”傳播的。世衛(wèi)組織的意思是，通過這種方式，這種病毒存在于通過咳嗽和打噴嚏產(chǎn)生的粘液或唾液的大飛沫中。

These droplets can travel only short distances through the air and either land on people or land on surfaces that people later touch. Stopping this kind of transmission is why public health officials urge people to wash hands frequently and not touch the face, because that could bring the virus into contact with the nose or mouth.

這些液滴只能在空氣中傳播很短的距離，要么落在人身上，要么落在人們后來接觸的表面上。阻止這種傳播是為什么公共衛(wèi)生官員敦促人們勤洗手，不要碰臉，因為那樣會使病毒接觸鼻子或嘴巴。

Other viruses, however, get shed by infected people in a way that lets the germs actually hang suspended in the air for minutes or even hours. Later, these airborne viruses can get breathed in when other people pass by. Measles is a good example of that kind of transmission — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, "Measles virus can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area."

然而，其他的病毒是通過被感染的人讓細(xì)菌在空氣中懸浮幾分鐘甚至幾個小時的方式傳播的。之后，當(dāng)其他人經(jīng)過時，這些通過空氣傳播的病毒會被吸入。麻疹就是這類傳播的一個很好的例子。美國疾病控制和預(yù)防中心說:“麻疹病毒在感染者離開一個地區(qū)后，可以在空氣中保持兩個小時的傳染性。”

The WHO said that this kind of airborne transmission of the new coronavirus might be possible "in specific circumstances and settings in which procedures that generate aerosols are performed," such as when a patient is intubated in a hospital or being disconnected from a ventilator.

世界衛(wèi)生組織表示，這種新型冠狀病毒的空中傳播可能會“在產(chǎn)生氣溶膠的特定環(huán)境和條件下”發(fā)生，例如當(dāng)病人在醫(yī)院插管或與呼吸機斷開連接時。

That troubles Milton, who says so little is known about this new virus, SARS-CoV-2. that it's inappropriate to draw conclusions about how it is transmitted.

這讓米爾頓感到困擾，他說對這種新型病毒SARS-CoV-2知之甚少，因此對它的傳播方式下結(jié)論是不合適的。

"I don't think they know, and I think they are talking out of their hats," Milton says.

米爾頓說：“我不認(rèn)為他們知道，我認(rèn)為他們在胡言亂語。”

When epidemiologists are working in the field, trying to understand an outbreak of an unknown pathogen, it's not possible for them to know exactly what's going on as a pathogen is spread from person to person, Milton says. "Epidemiologists cannot tell the difference between droplet transmission and short-range aerosol transmission."

當(dāng)流行病學(xué)家在現(xiàn)場工作，試圖了解一種未知病原體的爆發(fā)時，他們不可能確切地知道病原體在人與人之間傳播時發(fā)生了什么，米爾頓說。“流行病學(xué)家無法區(qū)分液滴傳播和短程氣溶膠傳播。”

He says these are hard questions to answer, and scientists still argue over how much of the transmission of influenza might be airborne.

他說，這些都是很難回答的問題，科學(xué)家們?nèi)匀辉跔幷撚卸嗌倭鞲袀鞑タ赡苁峭ㄟ^空氣傳播的。