The global coronavirus deaths on Monday crossed the 1.65 lakh mark with the United States registering the highest death toll of over 40,000.
Can farts really be a legit career of the novel coronavirus? This is easily one of the widely asked questions across the world right now.
And according to numerous reports, the answer to this question may be yes after the COVID-19 virus was found in the stool of more than 50% of the patients who found positive for coronavirus.
However, according to USA Today's recent reports, it is unlikely that the virus can spread through ways other than an infected person coughs or sneezes, releasing respiratory droplets into the air.
The global coronavirus deaths on Monday crossed the 1.65 lakh mark with the United States registering the highest death toll of over 40,000.
As per the stats from Monday morning, around 165,154 deaths have been recorded across the globe while the total number of confirmed cases has reached 2,402,798 -- the COVID-19 dashboard at the John Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center showed.
The US has recorded 758,720 cases and 40,555 deaths while Italy is second in terms of the death toll with 23,660 casualties. Italy is behind the US and Spain in terms of the total number of cases with 178,972 reported COVID-19 infections.
1. What has all this farting talk got to do with the coronavirus?
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According to numerous existing research, farts do carry mico particles which have the capability of spreading bacteria.
However, additional thorough research is still needed to identify the intensity of such infections.
Dr. Andy Tagg, an Australian doctor, carried out multiple examinations on COVID-19 positive patients and found out that 55 percent of them had the virus present in their feces.
Doctor Tagg recently took to Twitter to enlighten the world about his groundbreaking discovery and wrote: "So farts CAN have the power to spray talc long distances. And, in terms of size, a particle of talcum powder is 5 times bigger than a 5-micron aerosol droplet."
What has all this farting talk got to do with the coronavirus?
— Andy Tagg (@andrewjtagg) April 6, 2020
Well, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in faeces and has been detected in an asymptomatic individual up to 17 days post-exposure.https://t.co/6IflYTLFWr pic.twitter.com/XuYCmYoEQ7
2. Get your pants on!
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The Aussie doctor also added how farts are capable of spreading gaseous bacteria over long distances too.
Two Australian researchers in Karl Kruszelnicki and Luke Tennent, back in 2001, took up the responsibility to test and find whether farts do have the capability of outspreading diseases.
As a part of their testing, Dr Tennent made two individuals fart in two Petri dishes, just five cm away from one another.
While one of them was made to do it wearing pants, the other wasn't.
The dish in which the spray happened through the filter of the pants, there was no growth of any bacteria.
However, in the other dish, birthed bacteria generated overnight. Though none of this bacteria was anyway harmful, it is still fascinating how farts can transform into careers of bacteria.
3. More on this!
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However, according to USA Today's recent reports, it is unlikely that the virus can spread through ways other than an infected person coughs or sneezes, releasing respiratory droplets into the air.
Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and infectious diseases professor at Vanderbilt University, said at this moment, the spread of novel coronavirus through passed gas has "never been demonstrated."
"It becomes a highly theoretical exercise to discuss it," he said. "It's very unlikely."
The doctor also did say on a microscopic level, it's true that fecal matter can be found in passed gas but it's still unclear whether the virus can fully spread in that way.
Centers of disease control and prevention (CDS) on their website said that even though the COVID-19 has been found in the fecal matter of those infected, there has been "no confirmed fecal-oral transmission" of the disease.
