The Fluid Dynamics of Respiratory Disease Transmission

呼吸道疾病传播的流体动力学

• 批准号: 1022356
• 负责人: John Bush
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1022356&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Fluid; Dynamics; Respiratory; Disease; Transmission

The emergence and explosive spread of virulent viral (e.g. H1N1, SARS) and bacterial (e.g. Tuberculosis) infections is a problem of global interest with enormous human and economic consequences. Population and network disease models yield insight into, and guide policy aimed at mitigating, the spread of these public health threats. In such models, the central notion of contact greatly influences the disease epidemic outcomes, but its definition remains nebulous. This project clarifies the notion of contact through developing our understanding of the fluid dynamics of respiratory disease transmission. A hierarchy of mathematical models of increasing complexity are combined with analogue laboratory experiments to elucidate several fluid dynamics problems bearing directly on contact and disease spread. Specifically, this project elucidates the factors influencing the generation and transport of droplet-borne pathogens inside the respiratory tract, and their subsequent dispersal through the air via coughing, sneezing or normal breathing. Such models yield valuable insight into the range and efficacy of pathogen transport via exhalation and so guide policy on the management of infected patients in confined environments such as hospitals and airplanes.This research highlights the key role played by fluid dynamics in disease transmission, and suggests novel approaches to open questions in the classical mathematical modeling of disease spread. One principal goal is to refine the quantification of contact as input for epidemiological models, thus improving their predictive accuracy. The research will also raise the bar on the mathematical modeling of airborne transmission, by drawing on established mathematical models of multiphase, multiscale interfacial flows to elucidate the factors influencing the likelihood of infection via bacteria- or virus-laden airborne droplets. The research can thus inform the modeling of contact in respiratory diseases in confined environments, and so guide policy for disease transmission in hospitals and airplanes. Finally, the project is transformative, bringing the mathematical framework of modern fluid dynamics to a new class of important biomedical problems. Through introducing these problems to the fluid dynamics community, as resides traditionally in applied mathematics, engineering and physics departments, it initiates an exciting branch of interdisciplinary science.

致命病毒（例如H1N1、SARS）和细菌（例如结核病）感染的出现和爆炸性传播是具有巨大的人类和经济后果的全球关注的问题。 人口和网络疾病模型有助于深入了解这些公共卫生威胁的传播，并指导旨在减轻这些威胁的政策。 在这些模型中，接触的中心概念极大地影响了疾病流行的结果，但其定义仍然模糊不清。 这个项目通过发展我们对呼吸道疾病传播的流体动力学的理解来澄清接触的概念。 一个层次的数学模型越来越复杂的模拟实验室实验相结合，以阐明几个流体动力学问题直接关系到接触和疾病的传播。 具体而言，该项目阐明了影响呼吸道内液滴传播病原体的产生和运输的因素，以及随后通过咳嗽，打喷嚏或正常呼吸通过空气传播的因素。 这些模型产生有价值的洞察力的范围和有效性的病原体运输通过呼气，从而指导政策的管理感染的病人在密闭环境中，如医院和airplanes.This研究突出了流体动力学在疾病传播中发挥的关键作用，并提出了新的方法来开放的问题，在经典的疾病传播的数学模型。 一个主要目标是完善接触的量化作为流行病学模型的输入，从而提高其预测的准确性。 该研究还将提高对空气传播的数学建模的标准，通过利用已建立的多相、多尺度界面流的数学模型来阐明影响通过携带细菌或病毒的空气飞沫感染可能性的因素。 因此，这项研究可以为密闭环境中呼吸道疾病的接触建模提供信息，从而指导医院和飞机上的疾病传播政策。 最后，该项目是变革性的，将现代流体动力学的数学框架引入一类新的重要生物医学问题。 通过将这些问题引入到流体动力学社区，传统上居住在应用数学，工程和物理系，它开创了一个令人兴奋的跨学科科学的分支。