This study investigates how airborne pollen pellets (or grains) can cause severe respiratory-related problems in humans. Given that pollen pellets can capture ribonucleic acid viruses, we show that airborne pollen grains could transport airborne virus particles such as the airborne coronavirus (CoV) disease (COVID-19) or others. We consider the environmental conditions featuring the highest pollen concentration season and conduct computational multiphysics, multiscale modeling and simulations. The investigation concerns a prototype problem comprising the transport of 104 airborne pollen grains dropped from a mature willow tree at a wind speed of . We show how pollen grains can increase the coronavirus (CoV) transmission rate in a group of people, including some infected persons. In the case of high pollen grains concentrations in the air or during pollination in the spring, the social distance of 2 m does not hold as a health safety measure for an outdoor crowd. Thus, the public authorities should revise the social distancing guidelines.
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June 2021
Research Article|
June 22 2021
On pollen and airborne virus transmission Available to Purchase
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Flow and the Virus
Talib Dbouk
;
Talib Dbouk
a)
University of Nicosia
, Nicosia CY-2417, Cyprus
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Dimitris Drikakis
Dimitris Drikakis
b)
University of Nicosia
, Nicosia CY-2417, Cyprus
Search for other works by this author on:
Talib Dbouk
a)
University of Nicosia
, Nicosia CY-2417, Cyprus
Dimitris Drikakis
b)
University of Nicosia
, Nicosia CY-2417, Cyprus
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Physics of Fluids 33, 063313 (2021)
Article history
Received:
May 03 2021
Accepted:
May 20 2021
Citation
Talib Dbouk, Dimitris Drikakis; On pollen and airborne virus transmission. Physics of Fluids 1 June 2021; 33 (6): 063313. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0055845
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