Meeting Abstract

107.1  Saturday, Jan. 7  Disease transmission: insights from fluid dynamics  BOUROUIBA, Lydia; Massachusetts Institute of Technology lydia.bourouiba@math.mit.edu

Following the infiltration of a pathogen in a population of susceptible hosts, the nature of the “contact” between infected and non-infected members of the population  becomes critical in  shaping the outcome of the epidemics.  This is true whether one considers a human, an animal, or a vegetal population; nevertheless, the mechanisms leading to contact and prescribing the spread of common infectious diseases remain poorly understood.   Here, we discuss how a combination of  theoretical and experimental biofluid dynamics approaches can help shed light on the dynamics of contact. Particular attention is given to respiratory and foliar diseases.