Infectious diseases including tuberculosis, measles, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and more are spread via aerosols. What are aerosols and why does understanding the role they play in disease transmission matter for effective infection control?

Airborne infectious diseases spread via droplets and aerosols. When someone sneezes, for example, you may see expelled droplets. These “mini-cannonballs” fly through the air relatively short distances before landing on surfaces or on someone else—possibly in their eyes, nose, or mouth. Aerosols are microscopic droplets that remain floating in the air, circulating throughout indoor environments—for extended periods of time just waiting for someone else to inhale them.

Because the larger droplets fly short distances they can be eliminated with normal surface cleaning, for the most part, but for every one large droplet you see there can be thousands of infectious aerosols still floating or traveling in the air like cigarette smoke. In an enclosed area it’s not so easy to avoid cigarette smoke. And the smoke can build up over time. Now, think of people sneezing, coughing, talking, laughing, singing, or just breathing, and imagine those invisible, potentially infectious aerosolized pathogens (the “smoke”)—a growing pathogen load—collecting in your space (possibly much more aerosol than you thought). This is where UV comes in and why it has been used in human healthcare settings for close to a century. When those pathogens make contact with ultraviolet light, the DNA of the infectious microorganisms is disrupted, killing the pathogens or rendering them harmless, thereby “cleaning” the air.

But here’s the tricky part—not just any UV can effectively clean the air. That’s why Aerapy UV is researched, tested, and study-backed with proven results, not only for air cleaning but also surface cleaning to help disinfect areas missed after normal cleaning.