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Risk of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a clinical cardiology setting

Cardiac exercise stress testing (CEST) is an important diagnostic tool in daily cardiology practice. However, during intense physical activity microdroplet aerosols, potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 particles, can persist in a room for a long time. This poses a potential infection risk for the medi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Somsen, G. Aernout, Winter, Michiel M., Tulevski, Igor I., Kooij, Stefan, Bonn, Daniel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9187860/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35719131
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109254
Descripción
Sumario:Cardiac exercise stress testing (CEST) is an important diagnostic tool in daily cardiology practice. However, during intense physical activity microdroplet aerosols, potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 particles, can persist in a room for a long time. This poses a potential infection risk for the medical staff involved in CEST, as well as for the patients entering the same room afterwards. We measured aerosol generation and persistence, to perform a risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols during CEST. We find that during CEST, the aerosol levels remain low enough that SARS-CoV-2 transmission through aerosols is unlikely, with the room ventilation system producing 14 air changes per hour. A simple measurement of CO(2) concentration gives a good indication of the ventilation quality.