Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by newtoday 2289 days ago
Are you saying I could breathe in some, conveying a small amount of the virus, and not get infected? That seems to be the opposite of what highly contagious means.
1 comments

Disclaimer: Not a virologist.

A virus has to achieve viral entry: it has to find a suitable host cell, and introduce its viral material.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_entry

Whether an aerosol hits your face, or you breathe air with suspended particles containing the virus, the virus has several challenges it needs to overcome (described in the link above). Its success is not guaranteed. An increase in virus particles improves its chance while a decrease improves your chance.

In theory, a single virus particle could achieve its goal.