Exhaled Breath Aerosol Shedding of Highly Transmissible Versus Prior Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants.

Background: Aerosol inhalation is recognized as the dominant mode of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Three highly transmissible lineages evolved during the pandemic. One hypothesis to explain increased transmissibility is that natural selection favors variants with higher rates of viral aerosol shedding.