Early Warning Signs for Monitoring Airborne Respiratory Virus Transmission

Abstract

Airborne respiratory viruses (e.g., influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2) continue to pose a serious threat to global public health due to their ability to spread through multiple transmission pathways. Among these, aerosol transmission stands out as a key route, particularly in enclosed environments. However, current monitoring systems have major limitations in sensitivity, standardization, and high time resolution. This study provides a summary of the latest information on the monitoring technologies for respiratory virus aerosols. It discusses the technical and ethical challenges in real-world applications. In addition, this study proposes practical solutions and future development pathways. The aim of this study is to provide theoretical support for building a dynamic, precise, and effective early warning system for monitoring variants of airborne respiratory viruses.

Keywords: aerosol transmission; early warning; interdisciplinary research; monitoring technology; respiratory viruses.

Figure 1

Estimating transmission bottlenecks using a Wells-Riley exposure model. In the Wells-Riley model, the exposure level is represented by the rate parameter of a Poisson distribution, where an exposure value of 1 corresponds to an expected infection by a single virus. (a) The probability of infection increases with higher exposure levels. (b) Most infections are initiated by just one virus. (c) The majority of infections involve 10 or fewer viruses [36]. The data was obtained from an open-access article distributed under the terms of theCreative Commons CC BYlicense.