Toilets are regularly referred to as aerosol generators. People see splashing drops and that makes them think about any droplets that are so small that you don't see them. First of all, your stool is diluted by the rinsing water and the exposure is only a few seconds (with normal toilet use). I myself think that for these reasons a lot of aerosols are probably released during a toilet flush, with some virus particles in it, but that there is little to fear from that.
They are those virologist scares. How often does someone stand in your pull-through air, if you have just done your big message? I don't see a pandemic as a result of that. On a busy toilet it is advisable to ventilate a little extra during / after visiting the toilet: my mother had a light switch on the toilet that was switched to a fan. By the way, aerosols weren't even needed for that.
Infectious flatulence
Sewage can be tested well for virus residues and this shows that virus residues may for a large part eventually leave the body through the stool. This happens up to more than a month (!) after the start of the infection. That is almost twice as long as that virus can still be found in the nose. To what extent that virus is still contagious will have to be investigated further. And in patients with diarrhea, it was all more severe than in others – but that aside.
Then we can also imagine that, if gas formation occurs in the intestines, aerosols will be part of it. After all, it is dark and humid there. And aerosols are the travel cabins for Sars-Cov-2, and that's in the poop. A tight anus may have a dispersing effect, just like the vocal cords.
Does that mean that you can seriously injure someone with a strong wind? Fortunately, that is not so bad according to the researchers: wearing clothes (usually two-layer including underpants) dampens the release of germs somewhat. How to do that in a nudist camp is another question. After all, you don't have ears on your hips, so you don't just turn a face mask into a butt mask.
- Virus residues in faeces are viable, but:
- The volume of a fart is limited (it's a breath of nothing)
- It is unlikely that you breathe in a corona wind for a long time and deeply
This blog is inspired by this research.
The Dutch translation of the passage in question:
"Another possible route of transmission could arise from flatulence of infected patients, although we could not find any previous publications on this. Previous studies have shown that farts tend to carry microparticles that can spread bacteria. However, additional research is still warranted to estimate the intensity of such infections; however, the presence of undergarments/clothing would reduce the risk of transmission through this passageway. The same was claimed by china's centers for disease control and prevention: pants are an obstacle to the transmission of diseases via flatulence containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
Possible Modes of Transmission of Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: a review
And also take the importance of aerosols with you, although you have to consider for yourself to what extent this could also apply to a big fart and what that would mean if he smells very bad (10 meters away and still measurable after 16 hours!):
"... droplets emitted by an infected person can travel a distance of 1-10 meters in the air. Professor Wang and his team have reported a viral transmission rate via inhaled air by infected patients in a hospital of about 41.3%, indicating that there is urgent attention should be paid to transmission via aerosols. Despite studies showing SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA in air samples after 3 hours in one study (36) and after 16 hours in another (35), health institutes did not see the airborne transmission route as a mode of spread..."
Possible Modes of Transmission of Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: a review
