How Many Viruses in a Single Droplet?
All news sources are reporting on the COVID-19 virus. We’ve had the first six deaths in the U.S. and people are concerned. I understand; as someone who travels for a living and meets with groups of people locally and around the country, the thought crosses my mind. Of all the things we can do, the most important is to try to limit the spread of the virus person to person. That’s not going to be easy.
In doing some research for an Insiders Conference Call, I wanted to know how many viruses could be in a single droplet expelled from a cough or a sneeze. With viruses being so small, even in relation to bacteria, I knew it had to be a lot, and it is.
In one droplet expelled by a cough, there may be 3,000 or so droplets. In a sneeze, the droplets could be as many as 40,000 or so. That’s a lot, but that isn’t the whole story. The question was how many viruses could be in a single droplet. For someone is symptomatic and infectious, there could be as many as 200 million viruses in a single droplet. So 40,000 x 200,000,000; you can do the math from there. It’s a lot of viruses if you happen to have droplets lodge in your sinus cavity or in your mouth.
But wait! There’s more—and I’ll tell you that on Thursday.
What are you prepared to do today?
