TITLE:
Can We Diminish Spreading of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
AUTHORS:
S. Haber, A. Tsuda
KEYWORDS:
Bioaerosols, Surfactants, Lung Airways
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.14 No.1,
January
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: We hypothesized that liquid menisci occlusions may form inside small airways, travel along the airway while losing mass and finally may disintegrate into bioaerosols. Spreading of the COVID-19 virus is strongly related to the number of such bioaerosols exhaled by “super-spreaders”. We show, employing numerical methods, that this number can be diminished by administering surfactants which lower the surface-tension of the mucus which covers the airways.