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Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021

We investigated a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a quarantine hotel in Taiwan in December 2021. The cluster involved 3 case patients who lived in nonadjacent rooms on different floors. They had no direct contact during their stay. By direct exploration of the space above the room ceilings, we f...

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Autores principales: Wei, Hsin-Yi, Chang, Cheng-Ping, Liu, Ming-Tsan, Mu, Jung-Jung, Lin, Yu-Ju, Dai, Yu-Tung, Su, Chia-ping
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9707602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36322955
http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2812.220666
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author Wei, Hsin-Yi
Chang, Cheng-Ping
Liu, Ming-Tsan
Mu, Jung-Jung
Lin, Yu-Ju
Dai, Yu-Tung
Su, Chia-ping
author_facet Wei, Hsin-Yi
Chang, Cheng-Ping
Liu, Ming-Tsan
Mu, Jung-Jung
Lin, Yu-Ju
Dai, Yu-Tung
Su, Chia-ping
author_sort Wei, Hsin-Yi
collection PubMed
description We investigated a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a quarantine hotel in Taiwan in December 2021. The cluster involved 3 case patients who lived in nonadjacent rooms on different floors. They had no direct contact during their stay. By direct exploration of the space above the room ceilings, we found residual tunnels, wall defects, and truncated pipes between their rooms. We conducted a simplified tracer-gas experiment to assess the interconnection between rooms. Aerosol transmission through structural defects in floors and walls in this poorly ventilated hotel was the most likely route of virus transmission. This event demonstrates the high transmissibility of Omicron variants, even across rooms and floors, through structural defects. Our findings emphasize the importance of ventilation and integrity of building structure in quarantine facilities.
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spelling pubmed-97076022022-12-09 Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021 Wei, Hsin-Yi Chang, Cheng-Ping Liu, Ming-Tsan Mu, Jung-Jung Lin, Yu-Ju Dai, Yu-Tung Su, Chia-ping Emerg Infect Dis Synopsis We investigated a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a quarantine hotel in Taiwan in December 2021. The cluster involved 3 case patients who lived in nonadjacent rooms on different floors. They had no direct contact during their stay. By direct exploration of the space above the room ceilings, we found residual tunnels, wall defects, and truncated pipes between their rooms. We conducted a simplified tracer-gas experiment to assess the interconnection between rooms. Aerosol transmission through structural defects in floors and walls in this poorly ventilated hotel was the most likely route of virus transmission. This event demonstrates the high transmissibility of Omicron variants, even across rooms and floors, through structural defects. Our findings emphasize the importance of ventilation and integrity of building structure in quarantine facilities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022-12 /pmc/articles/PMC9707602/ /pubmed/36322955 http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2812.220666 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Emerging Infectious Diseases is a publication of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited.
spellingShingle Synopsis
Wei, Hsin-Yi
Chang, Cheng-Ping
Liu, Ming-Tsan
Mu, Jung-Jung
Lin, Yu-Ju
Dai, Yu-Tung
Su, Chia-ping
Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title_full Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title_fullStr Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title_full_unstemmed Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title_short Probable Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through Floors and Walls of Quarantine Hotel, Taiwan, 2021
title_sort probable aerosol transmission of sars-cov-2 through floors and walls of quarantine hotel, taiwan, 2021
topic Synopsis
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9707602/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36322955
http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2812.220666
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