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Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly despite extraordinary screening and social distancing measures. Such rapid spread was due in part to the fact that the disease transmission, particularly via airborne spread, is poorly understood. Characterizing the airborne size distri...

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Autores principales: Stern, Rebecca A., Al-Hemoud, Ali, Alahmad, Barrak, Koutrakis, Petros
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Published by Elsevier B.V. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8003456/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146799
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author Stern, Rebecca A.
Al-Hemoud, Ali
Alahmad, Barrak
Koutrakis, Petros
author_facet Stern, Rebecca A.
Al-Hemoud, Ali
Alahmad, Barrak
Koutrakis, Petros
author_sort Stern, Rebecca A.
collection PubMed
description The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly despite extraordinary screening and social distancing measures. Such rapid spread was due in part to the fact that the disease transmission, particularly via airborne spread, is poorly understood. Characterizing the airborne size distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is essential to understanding the risk of airborne transmission. We collected size-fractionated (≤2.5, 2.5–10, and ≥10 μm) samples using a cascade impactor at more than 30 locations inside and outside Jaber Hospital and the nearby Temporary Quarantine Facility in Kuwait from April to July 2020. We hypothesized that airborne SARS-CoV-2 would be present in all size fractions, including fine particles, and in a size distribution that differed by sampling location. We found that 6% of the samples (13 out of 210) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Concentrations ranged from 3 to 25 copies/m(3). The size distribution of particle-associated SARS-CoV-2 was different for each location. Large (≥10 μm) particles with the virus were found in symptomatic patient rooms. Fine (≤2.5 μm) particle-associated SARS-CoV-2 was detected in rooms with intubated patients and outside the hospital entrance gates. Coarse (2.5–10 μm) virus-laden particles were present in all locations with positive samples. This is one of the most comprehensive studies to date on size-fractionated airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Our findings support location-specific precautions that mitigate the spread of particles including fine particulate matter over distances greater than 1 m, including in locations outside the hospital.
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spelling pubmed-80034562021-03-29 Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait Stern, Rebecca A. Al-Hemoud, Ali Alahmad, Barrak Koutrakis, Petros Sci Total Environ Article The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly despite extraordinary screening and social distancing measures. Such rapid spread was due in part to the fact that the disease transmission, particularly via airborne spread, is poorly understood. Characterizing the airborne size distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is essential to understanding the risk of airborne transmission. We collected size-fractionated (≤2.5, 2.5–10, and ≥10 μm) samples using a cascade impactor at more than 30 locations inside and outside Jaber Hospital and the nearby Temporary Quarantine Facility in Kuwait from April to July 2020. We hypothesized that airborne SARS-CoV-2 would be present in all size fractions, including fine particles, and in a size distribution that differed by sampling location. We found that 6% of the samples (13 out of 210) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Concentrations ranged from 3 to 25 copies/m(3). The size distribution of particle-associated SARS-CoV-2 was different for each location. Large (≥10 μm) particles with the virus were found in symptomatic patient rooms. Fine (≤2.5 μm) particle-associated SARS-CoV-2 was detected in rooms with intubated patients and outside the hospital entrance gates. Coarse (2.5–10 μm) virus-laden particles were present in all locations with positive samples. This is one of the most comprehensive studies to date on size-fractionated airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Our findings support location-specific precautions that mitigate the spread of particles including fine particulate matter over distances greater than 1 m, including in locations outside the hospital. Published by Elsevier B.V. 2021-08-15 2021-03-27 /pmc/articles/PMC8003456/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146799 Text en © 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Stern, Rebecca A.
Al-Hemoud, Ali
Alahmad, Barrak
Koutrakis, Petros
Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title_full Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title_fullStr Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title_full_unstemmed Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title_short Levels and particle size distribution of airborne SARS-CoV-2 at a healthcare facility in Kuwait
title_sort levels and particle size distribution of airborne sars-cov-2 at a healthcare facility in kuwait
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8003456/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146799
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