Infectious Diseases Associated with Aerosols

In addition to the common cold (caused by rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, and other viruses), several types of bacteria and viruses have demonstrated airborne person-to-person transmission (Table 2).^32,46-49

Table 2. Diseases Known to be Spread by Droplets or Aerosols.³²

Table 2. Diseases Known to be Spread by Droplets or Aerosols.³²

For many of these microorganisms, the overall microbial load within aerosols, splash, and splatter vary greatly predicated on disease status and the particular microorganism.^11-13,25 While SARS-Cov-2 has been isolated from the saliva of asymptomatic patients, dental aerosols from such patients had undetectable SARS-CoV-2 viral loads.⁴⁵ It is well-established the reproduction number (R₀) differs significantly between microorganisms and that as a microorganism mutates, the R₀ may be altered.⁵⁰ The R₀ is the number of cases, on average, an infected patient will cause during their infectious period. This number, from a public health perspective, is also influenced by the overall susceptibility within the population (e.g., vaccination rates, previous infection rates, cross-immunity from similar diseases, the novelty of a pathogen).⁵⁰ Lastly, the likelihood of transmission is also influenced by the susceptibility of the host and related factors such as, overall health status, genetic influences, immunocompetence, vaccination/infection history, and previous exposure to similar diseases.^47,48 In fact, emerging evidence suggests that pre-existing oral diseases may increase the risk for developing severe forms of COVID-19.^51-53