High-resolution biological tracing reveals spatial distribution and mask interception of full-spectrum bacteria-laden cough droplets

This dataset contains experimental measurements of bacteria-laden droplets and aerosols generated by human coughs under different conditions. The dataset is organized into five subsets (S1–S5): S1: Raw CFU measurements of deposited bacteria-laden droplets collected using petri dishes from a single subject under three different bacterial suspension concentrations without mask use. S2: Raw CFU measurements of deposited bacteria-laden droplets from the same subject under three different bacterial suspension concentrations with mask use. S3: Raw CFU measurements of deposited bacteria-laden droplets from 32 subjects under a single bacterial suspension concentration without mask use. S4: Raw CFU measurements of deposited bacteria-laden droplets from 32 subjects under a single bacterial suspension concentration with mask use. S5: Raw measurements of airborne bacteria-laden aerosols collected using an impaction-type liquid air sampler. All datasets represent original experimental observations prior to normalization or model fitting. Units are expressed as colony-forming units (CFU), with deposition data reported per sampling surface and aerosol data reported as CFU/m³. These data were used to derive spatial distribution patterns, including the two-stage exponential–power-law decay structure and the critical transition distance (~1.5 m).