A couple of things to unpack from this before hitting the panic button... first, concerns for toilet plumes aren’t new (ahem, norovirus) (1/x) Flushing may release coronavirus-containing ‘toilet plumes’ - @washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06…
Second, this study looked at fluid dynamics, which is an important distinction. A big piece of concern with plumes comes down to two pieces- infectious dose and how much has been excreted and then aerosolized in the plume. (2/x)
Third - many of these studies use PCR, which is highly sensitive but that doesn’t mean the sample is getting an actual virus that can cause infections vs viral fragments. Fourth- no cases have been found as a result of this transmission route, which is a good indicator (3/x)
Fifth, this is an easy risk to mitigate *if* it’s deemed one (which we haven’t really seen the studies or epi to support yet. There are a lot of other infectious diseases that I worry about related to toilets - we could all be better at toilet etiquette and awareness. (4/x)
Sixth, infectious virus in stool doesn’t necessarily translate to infectious plume. So lastly, I leave you with the delightful @uarizona processor Dr. Gerba - “I don’t think it’s butt-borne, so I don’t think you have to worry.” (5/5)
