TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Cavicchioli, Andrea
T1  -  Infettività dei microrganismi emessi <BR>con sternuti e colpi di tosse
PY  -  2017
Y1  -  2017-07-01
DO  -  10.1702/2786.28227
JO  -  Assistenza Infermieristica e Ricerca
JA  -  Assist Inferm Ric
VL  -  36
IS  -  3
SP  -  168
EP  -  169
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2038-1778
Y2  -  2026/04/08
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1702/2786.28227
N2  -  Summary. Pathogen decay of airborne bacteria in bioaereosols. The aim of the paper was to find out how far bacteria-carrying droplets expelled by sneezes or coughs travel and remain able to infect other people. Previous research was based on laboratory-generated bio-aerosols, which are different from natural respiratory droplets generated by humans in composition and mechanisms of production, thus a new technique was developed and droplets sampled from two patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic pseudomonas aeruginosa infection were analyzed. Droplets rapidly dry out, cool and become light enough to stay airborne. They also partly degrade through contact with oxygen in the air, with larger droplets taking much longer to evaporate. While in the dried droplets bacteria rapidly decay, a subset of bacteria had a half-life of more than 10 minutes, remaining viable in the room air long enough to form an airborne infection risk, especially to people with respiratory problems.
ER  -