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...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
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 |