Virus Transmission Through Compromised Synthetic Barriers: Part I—Effect of Unsteady Driving Pressures

Abstract

Although synthetic membranes such as gloves, condoms, and instrument sheaths are used in environments with highly time-varying stresses, their effectiveness as barriers to virus transmission is almost always tested under static conditions. In this paper it is shown how a previously developed mathematical model can be used to transform information from static barrier tests into predictions for more realistic use conditions. Using a rate constant measured for herpes adsorption to latex in saline, and an oscillatory trans-membrane pressure representative of coitus, the amount of virus transmitted through a hole (2 μm diameter) in a condom is computed. Just beyond the exit orifice of the pore, transport is dominated by the rapidly dissipating viscous jet of virus suspension, which results in an accumulation of viruses roughly 20 pore radii from the barrier surface during each cycle. Due to virus adsorption to the barrier surfaces, the simulations reveal a gradual decrease in virus flow with increasing number of cycles, and thus a slow divergence from predictions based upon steady-state conditions. Still, over the 500 cycles simulated, steady-state predictions approximate the net number of viruses transmitted to within 25 percent error.