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. 2020 Sep 9:jiaa575. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa575

Environmental and Aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

Raquel A Binder 1,2, Natalie A Alarja 1,2, Emily R Robie 1,2, Kara E Kochek 1,2, Leshan Xiu 1,2,3, Lucas Rocha-Melogno 2,4, Anfal Abdelgadir 1,2, Sumana V Goli 1,2, Amanda S Farrell 1,2, Kristen K Coleman 5, Abigail L Turner 1,2, Cassandra C Lautredou 1, John A Lednicky 6,7, Mark J Lee 8, Christopher R Polage 8, Ryan A Simmons 2,9, Marc A Deshusses 2,4, Benjamin D Anderson 10, Gregory C Gray 1,2,5,10,
PMCID: PMC7499634  PMID: 32905595

Abstract

During April and May 2020, we studied 20 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, their hospital rooms (fomites and aerosols), and their close contacts for molecular and culture evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Among the more than 400 samples, we found molecular evidence of virus in most sample types, especially the nasopharygeal (NP), saliva, and fecal samples, but the prevalence of molecular positivity among fomites and aerosols was low. The agreement between NP swab and saliva positivity was high (89.5%, Kappa 0.79). Two NP swabs collected from patients on one and seven days post-symptom onset had evidence of infectious virus (2 passages over 14 days in Vero E6 cells). In summary, the low molecular prevalence and lack of viable SARS-CoV-2 virus in fomites and air samples implied low nosocomial risk SARS-CoV-2 transmission through inanimate objects or aerosols.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, aerosol, transmission, epidemiology


Articles from The Journal of Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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