Alarming video shows how fast viruses can spread while eating with others
Japan recently released an eye-opening video that was created to remind everyone for the millionth time to wash their hands.
The viral footage provided below shows just how easy it is for a virus, like SARS-CoV-2 — the pathogen driving the coronavirus pandemic — to spread in shared eating spaces like restaurants and cruise ships.
“What the video demonstrated is that it will spread to surfaces and to people very efficiently,” John Nicholls, a clinical professor at Hong Kong University, told CNN. “I think it really highlights the need of what people have been saying about hand hygiene to stop the spread of disease.”
An invisible fluorescent paint was squirted on one person’s hand to represent a virus and its carrier, according to the video made by NHK, Japan’s public broadcasting organization, in collaboration with infectious disease experts.
A group of 10 people was then directed to eat in a buffet-style setup for 30 minutes.
Once the experiment ended, the researchers turned on a black light to reveal where the mock virus had spread.
The fluorescent paint was found on shared utensils, tables, clothing and faces, much to the participants’ surprise, the video showed.
Nicholls, however, called the experiment “artificial” because it highlights spread solely by contact, but still highlights what disease transmission can look like without appropriate hand washing, according to CNN.
Other ways to get infected with a virus are through coughs and sneezes, which can fly out of your nose at 200 mph or more, Live Science reported.
It is not clear if the amount of paint placed on the “infected” person’s hand was equivalent or similar to the amount of mucus or droplets that escape from a cough or sneeze.
The majority of droplets coming from sneezes are less than 100 microns across, or about the width of a human hair, Live Science said. The smaller a droplet, the more likely it is to float in the air for longer, increasing people’s risk of exposure.
But it’s when a sick individual coughs or sneezes into a hand that contributes to contact spreading like the video showed.
The same group conducted a second experiment where behaviors demonstrating proper hygiene were enforced, such as frequent hand and utensil washing, along with the separation of shared utensils, according to Forbes.
“In that scenario, the paint spread 97% less than in the first experiment and did not end up on any of the other participants’ faces,” the outlet said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says regular, thorough hand washing for at least 20 seconds is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases like the new coronavirus.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Alarming video shows how fast viruses can spread while eating with others."
