How to identify and limit potential superspreaders

The Vulnerable Can Wait. Vaccinate the Super-Spreaders First Wired Nov 10, 2020

Who gets priority when Covid-19 shots are in short supply? Network theorists have a counterintuitive answer: Start with the social butterflies.
Eliminate the super-spreaders and you end the pandemic.

Article appears to suggest giving vaccines to "social butterflies"


The article does not appear to be aware that potential superspreaders can be easily identified. They are the people who naturally exhale far more aerosols than others. It is apparently due to having viscous lung fluid which causes the popping of bubbles in the lungs during each inhale. This increased amount of aerosols happens independent of the person being infected.

Superspreaders appear to have viscous lung fluids or be obese
derived from National Geographic Article of Oct 27, 2020
The science has been well understood for over a decade.
Less than 1% of people exhale 10X to 100X more aerosols that other people

It includes the following:

Does a person in a group exhale lots of aerosols? If so, give them a super-mask

Simple, 5-second simple aerosol test of people who will be in large groups:
     church, business, cruise ship, sporting event, colleges large resturant, military ...
Provide person with a "super-mask" to protect others in case the aerosol being exhaled is infectious
   super-masks trap very small particles (0.02 µm) Examples: N99, FFP3, N100


First must identify the potential superspreaders
Have the entire population aerosol-tested?

Potential options for dealing with potential superspreaders
  • 1) Provide them with single-use masks which are proven to stop aerosols
    • Single-use masks capture aerosols electrostatically
  • 2) Reduce their lung fluid viscosity (inhale or drugs?)
  • 3) Give them high-dose vitamin D to reduce the risk of becoming infected
  • 4) Give them a vaccine to reduce the risk of their becoming infected
  • 5) Restrict their moving around

See also web

  • What’s a coronavirus superspreader? MIT Review June 15
    • "...more or less follows the 80/20 Pareto Principle (named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto): 80% of all consequences come from just 20% of the possible causes..."
  • Ask an Infectious Disease Expert: What Is a Superspreader? VeryWellHealth Nov 6
    • "A study that came out of India showed that as few as 5% of infected carriers are responsible for up to 80% of the secondary infections."
    • "However, the concept of superspreaders is not unique to COVID-19. Other related viruses, including SARS-CoV, MERS, and Ebola, have also been shown to have the potential to spread in this manner; SARS-CoV-2 just seems to be much better at it."
  • Superspreading Events Without Superspreaders: Using High Attack Rate Events to Estimate N​o​ for Airborne Transmission of COVID-19 - Oct 23 preprint     PDF
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