Interesting article, but what point are you making by posting it without comment? It doesn't confirm airborne transmission, unless that is implied by background knowledge I'm missing (?). And it certainly doesn't tell me anything about the logic of the passage I quoted, so I remain sceptical about that other article's quality.
How do you expect asymptomatic infected individuals to spread the virus? The viral load is highest in the nose, suggesting that they can infect others by simply breathing in their vicinity. This is different from droplet transmission when people are coughing/sneezing.
> This is different from droplet transmission when people are coughing/sneezing.
I know, and I thought that was what we were discussing: how strong is the evidence for airborne transmission.
> How do you expect asymptomatic infected individuals to spread the virus?
I gave a bunch of possibilities in my previous reply.
> The viral load is highest in the nose
Higher in the nose than the throat, according to the Medpagetoday article, but that doesn't imply it is absent from the throat -- rather the opposite, otherwise they would have phrased it differently. And people do pick and blow their noses, and sneeze occasionally even when healthy, so it's not like breathing is the only possible route out of the nose. Not to mention the connectedness of nose and throat, which makes it hard for me to imagine a virus being present in the nose but reliably absent from saliva.
I'm not arguing that airborne transmission is unlikely -- I don't know, and am trying to form an opinion. Which is why I'm questioning the argument that it is definitely happening, and responsible for all asymptomatic contagion: it seems overstated to me, but if I'm missing key background facts, I'd like to learn them.
With the spread specially being high in enclosed spaces like the churches in Korea, Singapore and the cruise ship in Japan. I do think either it is airborne or the virus can live outside the human body longer compared to other flu viruses. Most of the high spread patterns outside china where we have information is in enclosed spaces like churches or the cruise ship.
