2024 Year in Review: Fugitive Aerosols—Keeping the Air Clear for Patients and Staff

Although concerns about and precautions to prevent transmission of diseases through the air have existed since Hippocrates, renewed interest in risks and prevention strategies grew significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This altered respiratory care practice globally owing to concerns that some respiratory care procedures may generate or disperse aerosols that could spread pathogens. A paucity of evidence, as well as a lack of general consensus, existed at the pandemic onset to determine the associated risks of these procedures and best practices for mitigating those risks. This is a review of key peer-reviewed manuscripts from 2023 to 2024 discussing aerosol generation and dispersion from respiratory care procedures, as well as the mitigation of associated risks. A brief discussion of different forms of aerosols, and the risks associated with each, is also included.