CDC Retracts Guidelines on Aerosol Transmission of Coronavirus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took down its guidance posted a few days earlier about how coronavirus can spread through aerosol transmission. The agency said that the guidance was a proposed draft posted in error on its official website.

Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesman, said that while the agency is updating their recommendations regarding SARS-CoV-2 ( the virus responsible for causing COVID-19), for the possibility for aerosol transmission, the revised language will be posted only when the process has been completed.

Jay Butler, the CDC's deputy director for infectious disease, said that it was an early draft that was posted without any technical review and that it should not happen again. 

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The CDC is "very intensively" discussing guardrails to prevent this repeated error in the publication process.

Dr. Howard Koh, a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who also served as assistant secretary for health during the Obama administration, mentioned that the consistent inconsistency in CDC's guidance on COVID-19 has severely compromised the people's trust in public health agencies. Trust in public health is more important than ever during the most significant public health emergency in a century. Without this trust, the pandemic could go on indefinitely. To rectify this error, CDC must acknowledge the growing scientific evidence indicating the possibility of airborne transmission through aerosols and that it is more critical than ever to wear masks.

What changed in the CDC guidelines?

It has been previously known that the coronavirus is spread through respiratory droplets between people in close contact, less than 6 feet apart. Over the weekend, the CDC updated its page. It said that small particles, such as those in aerosols, is produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes can be inhaled into the nose, mouth, airways, and lungs and cause infection and thought to be the primary way the virus spreads. It also mentioned that these particles might travel farther than 6 feet.

A federal official who is familiar with the situation said that while aerosol transmission can occur, it is not the primary way on how the virus spreads. It was clearly posted by mistake without being thoroughly reviewed by CDC experts.

The World Health Organization posted in July that aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out after more than 200 scientists urged it to do so.

(Photo: pixabay)

Respiratory Droplets vs. Aerosol Particles

Respiratory droplets are larger in diameter (>5 μm ) and fall to the ground rapidly, reducing its distance for transmission. As this was how coronavirus spreads, the 6-feet rule was recommended for safe social distancing during the pandemic. 

Aerosol transmission refers to small particles exhaled that can remain infectious while suspended in the air for long periods and can travel longer distances by moving with air currents; people who breathe this can get sick.

Scientists Urge to Acknowledge Airborne Transmission

Donald Milton, an author of the letter urging WHO to consider the likelihood of catching the virus through the air, is happy that CDC is working on the latest public statement about transmission. By learning more about aerosols, it will be easier to know how to control the transmission.

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