Holding breath may increase risk of getting Covid-19: IIT researchers

According to a release issued by IIT, airborne infections such as Coronavirus spread through sneezing and coughing as these events instantly release a lot of tiny droplets

IIT Madras Researchers have found that holding breath may increase the risk of getting Covid-19 infection. They found that the transportation of virus-laden droplets deep into the lungs increases with decreasing breathing frequency.

The research team modelled the breathing frequency in a laboratory and found that low breathing frequency increases the time of residence of the virus thereby increasing the chances of deposition and consequently the infection. Also, the multiscale lung structure has a significant effect on a person’s susceptibility to Covid-19.

The research was led by Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, with his research scholars