Observation and quantification of respiratory droplets by laser light scattering

National Institute Of Diabetes And Digestive And Kidney Diseases

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Abstract

The soft palate and back of the throat represent vulnerable early infection sites for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, streptococci, and many other pathogens. We demonstrated in a laboratory experiment that voluntary generation of snoring sounds causes aerosolization of pharyngeal fluid that covers these surfaces, which previously has escaped detection because the inspired airstream carries the micron-sized droplets into the lung, inaccessible to traditional aerosol detectors. While many of these droplets will settle in the lower respiratory tract, a fraction of the respirable smallest droplets remains airborne and can be detected in exhaled breath. We distinguished these exhaled droplets from those generated by the underlying breathing activity by using tri-methylglycine as a chemical tracer, thereby proving their existence https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38811937/ . The direct transfer of pharyngeal fluids and their pathogens into the deep lung by snoring represents a plausible mechanistic link between the clinically recognized association between sleep-disordered breathing and pneumonia incidence.