Cargando…
The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA?
Testing surfaces in school classrooms for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can provide public-health information that complements clinical testing. We monitored the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five schools (96 classrooms) in Davis, California (USA) by collecting weekly s...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9032406/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35452479 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267212 |
_version_ | 1784692635998355456 |
---|---|
author | Zuniga-Montanez, Rogelio Coil, David A. Eisen, Jonathan A. Pechacek, Randi Guerrero, Roque G. Kim, Minji Shapiro, Karen Bischel, Heather N. |
author_facet | Zuniga-Montanez, Rogelio Coil, David A. Eisen, Jonathan A. Pechacek, Randi Guerrero, Roque G. Kim, Minji Shapiro, Karen Bischel, Heather N. |
author_sort | Zuniga-Montanez, Rogelio |
collection | PubMed |
description | Testing surfaces in school classrooms for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can provide public-health information that complements clinical testing. We monitored the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five schools (96 classrooms) in Davis, California (USA) by collecting weekly surface-swab samples from classroom floors and/or portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) units (n = 2,341 swabs). Twenty-two surfaces tested positive, with qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values ranging from 36.07–38.01. Intermittent repeated positives in a single room were observed for both floor and HEPA filter samples for up to 52 days, even following regular cleaning and HEPA filter replacement after a positive result. We compared the two environmental sampling strategies by testing one floor and two HEPA filter samples in 57 classrooms at Schools D and E. HEPA filter sampling yielded 3.02% and 0.41% positivity rates per filter sample collected for Schools D and E, respectively, while floor sampling yielded 0.48% and 0% positivity rates. Our results indicate that HEPA filter swabs are more sensitive than floor swabs at detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in interior spaces. During the study, all schools were offered weekly free COVID-19 clinical testing through Healthy Davis Together (HDT). HDT also offered on-site clinical testing in Schools D and E, and upticks in testing participation were observed following a confirmed positive environmental sample. However, no confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified among students associated with classrooms yielding positive environmental samples. The positive samples detected in this study appeared to contain relic viral RNA from individuals infected before the monitoring program started and/or RNA transported into classrooms via fomites. High-Ct positive results from environmental swabs detected in the absence of known active infections supports this conclusion. Additional research is needed to differentiate between fresh and relic SARS-CoV-2 RNA in environmental samples and to determine what types of results should trigger interventions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9032406 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-90324062022-04-23 The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? Zuniga-Montanez, Rogelio Coil, David A. Eisen, Jonathan A. Pechacek, Randi Guerrero, Roque G. Kim, Minji Shapiro, Karen Bischel, Heather N. PLoS One Research Article Testing surfaces in school classrooms for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can provide public-health information that complements clinical testing. We monitored the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five schools (96 classrooms) in Davis, California (USA) by collecting weekly surface-swab samples from classroom floors and/or portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) units (n = 2,341 swabs). Twenty-two surfaces tested positive, with qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values ranging from 36.07–38.01. Intermittent repeated positives in a single room were observed for both floor and HEPA filter samples for up to 52 days, even following regular cleaning and HEPA filter replacement after a positive result. We compared the two environmental sampling strategies by testing one floor and two HEPA filter samples in 57 classrooms at Schools D and E. HEPA filter sampling yielded 3.02% and 0.41% positivity rates per filter sample collected for Schools D and E, respectively, while floor sampling yielded 0.48% and 0% positivity rates. Our results indicate that HEPA filter swabs are more sensitive than floor swabs at detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in interior spaces. During the study, all schools were offered weekly free COVID-19 clinical testing through Healthy Davis Together (HDT). HDT also offered on-site clinical testing in Schools D and E, and upticks in testing participation were observed following a confirmed positive environmental sample. However, no confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified among students associated with classrooms yielding positive environmental samples. The positive samples detected in this study appeared to contain relic viral RNA from individuals infected before the monitoring program started and/or RNA transported into classrooms via fomites. High-Ct positive results from environmental swabs detected in the absence of known active infections supports this conclusion. Additional research is needed to differentiate between fresh and relic SARS-CoV-2 RNA in environmental samples and to determine what types of results should trigger interventions. Public Library of Science 2022-04-22 /pmc/articles/PMC9032406/ /pubmed/35452479 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267212 Text en © 2022 Zuniga-Montanez et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Zuniga-Montanez, Rogelio Coil, David A. Eisen, Jonathan A. Pechacek, Randi Guerrero, Roque G. Kim, Minji Shapiro, Karen Bischel, Heather N. The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title | The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title_full | The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title_fullStr | The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title_full_unstemmed | The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title_short | The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA? |
title_sort | challenge of sars-cov-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable hepa filtration units: fresh or relic rna? |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9032406/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35452479 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267212 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT zunigamontanezrogelio thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT coildavida thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT eisenjonathana thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT pechacekrandi thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT guerreroroqueg thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT kimminji thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT shapirokaren thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT bischelheathern thechallengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT zunigamontanezrogelio challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT coildavida challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT eisenjonathana challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT pechacekrandi challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT guerreroroqueg challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT kimminji challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT shapirokaren challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna AT bischelheathern challengeofsarscov2environmentalmonitoringinschoolsusingfloorsandportablehepafiltrationunitsfreshorrelicrna |