The landscape of aerosol transmission after COVID-19

A multipronged approach is needed for any next pandemic, including expertise from laboratory microbiologists and virologists, clinical infectious diseases and infection control teams, public health physicians and epidemiologists, aerosol scientists and engineers. We need to develop a rapid evidence pipeline to collate robust scientific data about any new pathogen, how it is transmitted, how it infects and affects humans, and how to control, treat and prevent it. This article briefly outlines how far we have come and proposes some options to better prepare for the next pandemic.