Virus study infects humanity with a 'vomiting machine'

Researchers create a machine that vomits to
study how virus particles emitted when
someone throws up can spread through the
air and infect others. They had us at "a
machine that vomits."

Thanks to science, we finally have a vomiting
machine. You're welcome, society.
North Carolina State University

Scientific experiments have brought mankind all
sorts of great inventions, like the lightbulb, the
telephone and the four-slice toaster. Another
experiment has brought the world something it
didn't know it wanted: a vomiting machine.
North Carolina researchers joined forces to
create just such an insane-sounding device as
part of a study that found that virus particles
such as those from the fast-spreading human
norovirus, which causes acute gastroenteritis,
can leave the body of a person who vomits and
then hang in the air and infect others.
Researchers from North Carolina State
University in Raleigh and Wake Forest University
in Winston-Salem created a batch of fake vomit
that they infected with the MS2 bacteriophage
virus, a type of norovirus that isn't harmful to
humans and is commonly used in similar simulated
demonstrations. They sprayed the vomit through
the machine, which features a throat-like tube
encased in a one-quarter-scale clay model of a
human face in a plexiglass box.
Grace Tung-Thompson
Then they waited to see how much of the virus
aerosolized in the air in the form of particles
after the simulated person lost its simulated
lunch, according to the study, which appeared in
the journal PLOS ONE Wednesday.
Only a small percentage of the virus particles
hung around in the air, but "in absolute terms,
it is a lot compared to the amount of virus
needed to cause infection," Francis de los Reyes,
a professor of civil, construction and
environmental engineering and an associate
faculty member of microbiology at North Carolina
State, said in a statement .
He also notes that just .02 percent of the virus
aersolized but that's "more than enough to
infect other people."
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If you're grossed out already, brace yourself,
because it gets even grosser. These particles
can land in a person's mouth and cause an
infection if they are swallowed, says Lee-Ann
Jaykus , a North Carolina State professor of
food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences.
"But those airborne particles could also land on
nearby surfaces like tables and door handles,
causing environmental contamination," Jaykus
said. "And norovirus can hang around for weeks,
so anyone that touches that table and then puts
their hand to their mouth could be at risk for
infection."
This isn't the first time scientists have built
something that vomits to show how diseases can
spread. Back in 2013, scientists at the Health &
Safety Laboratory in the UK built a barfing
robot nicknamed "vomiting Larry" that also
showed how the norovirus, which causes nausea,
vomiting, watery diarrhea and abdominal pain,
can spread to other people when victims blow
chunks.
North Carolina State also released a video of its
achievement in simulated barfing. You really
shouldn't watch it if you're eating anything,
although I probably should have said that at the
very beginning of this story.

Source:CNN