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Low Risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission by Fomites: A Clinical Observational Study in Highly Infectious Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients( )

BACKGROUND: The contribution of droplet-contaminated surfaces for virus transmission has been discussed controversially in the context of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. More importantly, the risk of fomite-based transmission has not been systematically add...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Meister, Toni Luise, Dreismeier, Marielen, Blanco, Elena Vidal, Brüggemann, Yannick, Heinen, Natalie, Kampf, Günter, Todt, Daniel, Nguyen, Huu Phuc, Steinmann, Jörg, Schmidt, Wolfgang Ekkehard, Steinmann, Eike, Quast, Daniel Robert, Pfaender, Stephanie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9129150/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35512326
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiac170
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: The contribution of droplet-contaminated surfaces for virus transmission has been discussed controversially in the context of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. More importantly, the risk of fomite-based transmission has not been systematically addressed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether confirmed hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients can contaminate stainless steel carriers by coughing or intensive moistening with saliva and to assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission upon detection of viral loads and infectious virus in cell culture. METHODS: We initiated a single-center observational study including 15 COVID-19 patients with a high baseline viral load (cycle threshold value ≤25). We documented clinical and laboratory parameters and used patient samples to perform virus culture, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and virus sequencing. RESULTS: Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs of all patients were positive for viral ribonucleic acid on the day of the study. Infectious SARS-CoV-2 could be isolated from 6 patient swabs (46.2%). After coughing, no infectious virus could be recovered, however, intensive moistening with saliva resulted in successful viral recovery from steel carriers of 5 patients (38.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Transmission of infectious SARS-CoV-2 via fomites is possible upon extensive moistening, but it is unlikely to occur in real-life scenarios and from droplet-contaminated fomites.