ECoMMFiT is a research group whose main objective is to advance the knowledge of flow structure and its effects on heat and mass transfer processes in problems of fundamental, industrial and environmental interest, using experimental, computational (CFD) and analytical tools (Machine Learning).
Fever and cold can make respiratory illnesses more contagious
The research carried out by our group on the impact of fever and cold on the risk of contracting a respiratory illness has been published. The study shows that the difference between the temperature of the exhaled air and the ambient temperature causes the particle cloud to remain more concentrated and travel farther. The larger this margin – for example, when a person with fever coughs in a cold environment -, the more noticeable the effects are. The research continues a line of work started by the group when we developed a simulator capable of reproducing coughs and sneezes to study how respiratory aerosols disperse.
Article: Catalán, N., Cito, S., Varela Ballesta, S., Fabregat, A., Vernet, A., Graus, D., & Pallarès, J. (2026). Bioaerosol transport dynamics in cold and warm environments: An experimental study using a three-dimensional-printed human airway model. Physics of Fluids.
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