Becker's Healthcare April 19, 2024
Following several years of collaboration with major public health agencies, the World Health Organization has broadened its classification of airborne diseases — a move that could have significant influence over infection control policies in countries around the world.
The WHO outlined updated terminology in an April 18 report that moves away from previously relied upon descriptors such as “aerosols,” which referred to smaller particles, and “droplets,” which was used to describe larger particles.
The new consensus, reached after consulting with agencies from 2021 to 2023, recognizes people infected with a respiratory pathogen can expel infectious particles when breathing, talking, singing, spitting, coughing or sneezing. The particles should be described as “infectious respiratory particles.”
“IRPs exist on a continuous...
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