Cargando…

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021

Airborne transmission is mainly associated with poorly ventilated and crowded indoor environments where people stay for long periods of time. As such, public transport is often perceived as having a high risk for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Considering that data on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: da Silva, Priscilla Gomes, Gonçalves, José, Nascimento, Maria São José, Sousa, Sofia I. V., Mesquita, João R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9141764/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35627503
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19105955
_version_ 1784715422707220480
author da Silva, Priscilla Gomes
Gonçalves, José
Nascimento, Maria São José
Sousa, Sofia I. V.
Mesquita, João R.
author_facet da Silva, Priscilla Gomes
Gonçalves, José
Nascimento, Maria São José
Sousa, Sofia I. V.
Mesquita, João R.
author_sort da Silva, Priscilla Gomes
collection PubMed
description Airborne transmission is mainly associated with poorly ventilated and crowded indoor environments where people stay for long periods of time. As such, public transport is often perceived as having a high risk for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Considering that data on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in public transport systems are scarce, we performed air sampling for SARS-CoV-2 in indoor and outdoor spaces of public transport systems in Portugal. Air (n = 31) and surface (n = 70) samples were collected using a Coriolis(®) Compact microbial air sampler and sterile flocked plastic swabs, respectively. Samples were extracted and analyzed through RT-qPCR. Only two air samples from an outdoor and a partially open space were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. No positive surface samples were detected. These results indicate that the viral concentration in ambient air in public transport systems is linked to the number of people present in that environment and whether they are wearing properly fitting masks. Considering the current lifting of COVID-19 restrictions around the world, it is essential that people continue to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor environments, especially in crowded spaces. More studies on this topic are needed to fully elucidate the real risk of infection in outdoor spaces.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9141764
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-91417642022-05-28 Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021 da Silva, Priscilla Gomes Gonçalves, José Nascimento, Maria São José Sousa, Sofia I. V. Mesquita, João R. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Airborne transmission is mainly associated with poorly ventilated and crowded indoor environments where people stay for long periods of time. As such, public transport is often perceived as having a high risk for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Considering that data on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in public transport systems are scarce, we performed air sampling for SARS-CoV-2 in indoor and outdoor spaces of public transport systems in Portugal. Air (n = 31) and surface (n = 70) samples were collected using a Coriolis(®) Compact microbial air sampler and sterile flocked plastic swabs, respectively. Samples were extracted and analyzed through RT-qPCR. Only two air samples from an outdoor and a partially open space were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. No positive surface samples were detected. These results indicate that the viral concentration in ambient air in public transport systems is linked to the number of people present in that environment and whether they are wearing properly fitting masks. Considering the current lifting of COVID-19 restrictions around the world, it is essential that people continue to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor environments, especially in crowded spaces. More studies on this topic are needed to fully elucidate the real risk of infection in outdoor spaces. MDPI 2022-05-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9141764/ /pubmed/35627503 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19105955 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
da Silva, Priscilla Gomes
Gonçalves, José
Nascimento, Maria São José
Sousa, Sofia I. V.
Mesquita, João R.
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title_full Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title_fullStr Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title_full_unstemmed Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title_short Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Indoor and Outdoor Areas of Urban Public Transport Systems of Three Major Cities of Portugal in 2021
title_sort detection of sars-cov-2 in the indoor and outdoor areas of urban public transport systems of three major cities of portugal in 2021
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9141764/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35627503
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19105955
work_keys_str_mv AT dasilvapriscillagomes detectionofsarscov2intheindoorandoutdoorareasofurbanpublictransportsystemsofthreemajorcitiesofportugalin2021
AT goncalvesjose detectionofsarscov2intheindoorandoutdoorareasofurbanpublictransportsystemsofthreemajorcitiesofportugalin2021
AT nascimentomariasaojose detectionofsarscov2intheindoorandoutdoorareasofurbanpublictransportsystemsofthreemajorcitiesofportugalin2021
AT sousasofiaiv detectionofsarscov2intheindoorandoutdoorareasofurbanpublictransportsystemsofthreemajorcitiesofportugalin2021
AT mesquitajoaor detectionofsarscov2intheindoorandoutdoorareasofurbanpublictransportsystemsofthreemajorcitiesofportugalin2021