Unsettling Virus Animation Shows How One Cough Can Infect An Entire Airplane
Image via pio3 / Shutterstock.com
An animation created by Purdue University researchers depicts an airplane scenario where one cough with tiny invisible droplets ends up infecting a group of passengers. The unsettling motion graphics come in time with the coronavirus pandemic, although the study was focused on the SARS virus.
As passengers are made to be seated in close proximity with each other in a confined space with many common surfaces, this shows the rapid transmission of an airborne virus within a single airplane flight.
However, Qingyang Chen conducted the study assuming that the SARS virus could likely stay in the air for a long period of time. This contrasts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) reporting on the common occurrences of the coronavirus.
Chen had worked with Boeing engineers to determine whether changing an airplane’s ventilation system could lower the risk of passengers contracting the SARS virus.
The study ultimately found that traveling with a SARS patient seated in a seven-row section of a Boeing 767 for a five-hour flight can result in a one-in-three chance of passengers being infected. A shorter duration on a Boeing 737 flight can lead to a one-in-five chance of catching the virus from an affected patient.
The researchers also discovered that making changes to an airplane’s ventilation system would likely reduce the risk by half or more. For example, the airflow into the cabin can be switched from the floor instead of from above, per the New York Post.
This #datavizualisation shows how tiny invisible droplets from a single cough can flow through the cabin of a Boeing 767 passenger jet@washingtonpost / #tech #data #COVID19 #plane @CurieuxExplorer @jblefevre60 @PawlowskiMario @ShiCooks @mvollmer1 @ValensNtirenga2 pic.twitter.com/PwU6FUJi7b
— Pierre-Antoine Rizk (@Droit_IA) April 29, 2020
[via New York Post, cover image via pio3 / Shutterstock.com]
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