COVID-19 & & animal research study: Research study in hamsters reveals masks lower transmission danger
Hamsters are naturally prone to SARS-CoV-2 and expose that prevalent usage of face masks minimizes transmission of the lethal coronavirus
15 years earlier, scientists revealed that the Syrian hamster might be quickly contaminated with the SARS-CoV-1 coronavirus, vector of SARS, a cousin of COVID-19. Just recently checked versus SARS-CoV-2, rodents likewise reveal vulnerability to this illness.
After infection, hamsters appear to reduce weight, establish quick, irregular breathing and end up being sluggish. They no longer take care of their fur by grooming and are stooped over. SARS-CoV-2 can be discovered in big amounts in the lungs and intestinal tracts of the animals. These medical symptoms are similar to upper and lower breathing infection in people.
Because of these medical assessments, scientists from the University of Hong Kong have actually checked out hamsters to study the efficiency of masks in obstructing illness transmission.
This research study is a few of the very first to particularly examine whether masks can stop symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 providers from contaminating others.
The group put hamsters that were synthetically contaminated with the illness beside healthy animals. Surgical masks (level 1) were put in between the 2 cages with air circulation taking a trip from the contaminated animals to the healthy ones.
Using masks in such a method, decreased non-contact transmission of the infection by more than 60% whereas 2 thirds of the healthy hamsters got contaminated within a week when no masks were utilized.
Positioning the mask over the cage with the contaminated hamsters appear to reveal a higher result as infection rates were simply over 15% compared to 35% when the masks were placed on the cages of the heathy hamsters.
And in general, putting a mask decreased the viral load in the hamsters that did get contaminated, as they were discovered to have less infection within their bodies than those contaminated without a mask.
The research study appears to argue in favour of using masks for the contaminated, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and the healthy.
Last modified: 28 July 2022 16:13
Back to News
