tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Indoor Air
. 2022 Mar;32(3):e13023.
doi: 10.1111/ina.13023.
Detection and isolation of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in a hospital setting
Nuno Rufino de Sousa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Steponaviciute[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lucille Margerie[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Karolina Nissen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Midori Kjellin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Björn Reinius[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Erik Salaneck[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Klas I Udekwu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Antonio Gigliotti Rothfuchs[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Transmission mechanisms for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are incompletely understood. In particular, aerosol transmission remains unclear, with viral detection in air and demonstration of its infection potential being actively investigated. To this end, we employed a novel electrostatic collector to sample air from rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients in a major Swedish hospital. Electrostatic air sampling in conjunction with extraction-free, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (hid-RT-PCR) enabled detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air from patient rooms (9/22; 41%) and adjoining anterooms (10/22; 45%). Detection with hid-RT-PCR was concomitant with viral RNA presence on the surface of exhaust ventilation channels in patients and anterooms more than 2 m from the COVID-19 patient. Importantly, it was possible to detect active SARS-CoV-2 particles from room air, with a total of 496 plaque-forming units (PFUs) being isolated, establishing the presence of infectious, airborne SARS-CoV-2 in rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients. Our results support circulation of SARS-CoV-2 via aerosols and urge the revision of existing infection control frameworks to include airborne transmission.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; environmental sampling; health care; infectious aerosols; pathogen detection; transmission.
. 2022 Mar;32(3):e13023.
doi: 10.1111/ina.13023.
Detection and isolation of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in a hospital setting
Nuno Rufino de Sousa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Laura Steponaviciute[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lucille Margerie[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Karolina Nissen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Midori Kjellin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Björn Reinius[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Erik Salaneck[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Klas I Udekwu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Antonio Gigliotti Rothfuchs[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35347788
- DOI: 10.1111/ina.13023
Abstract
Transmission mechanisms for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are incompletely understood. In particular, aerosol transmission remains unclear, with viral detection in air and demonstration of its infection potential being actively investigated. To this end, we employed a novel electrostatic collector to sample air from rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients in a major Swedish hospital. Electrostatic air sampling in conjunction with extraction-free, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (hid-RT-PCR) enabled detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air from patient rooms (9/22; 41%) and adjoining anterooms (10/22; 45%). Detection with hid-RT-PCR was concomitant with viral RNA presence on the surface of exhaust ventilation channels in patients and anterooms more than 2 m from the COVID-19 patient. Importantly, it was possible to detect active SARS-CoV-2 particles from room air, with a total of 496 plaque-forming units (PFUs) being isolated, establishing the presence of infectious, airborne SARS-CoV-2 in rooms occupied by COVID-19 patients. Our results support circulation of SARS-CoV-2 via aerosols and urge the revision of existing infection control frameworks to include airborne transmission.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; environmental sampling; health care; infectious aerosols; pathogen detection; transmission.