Environmental contamination and evaluation of healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk in temporary isolation wards during the COVID-19 pandemic

Wee, Liang En; Arora, Shalvi; Ko, Karrie Kwan Ki; Coleman, Kristen K.; Tan, Kwee Yuen; Tohid, Hatijah Binti; Liu, Qinnan; Tung, Grace Li Teng; See, Shawn Wee Jin; Suphavilai, Chayaporn; Ling, Moi Lin; Venkatachalam, Indumathi

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.09.004

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 20 publications

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“… 9 Studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is widely distributed in the air and on object surfaces in the hospital. 10 , 11 Positive specimens in the environment may appear on almost all the frequently touched surfaces in the isolation ward, 12 included mobile phones, 13 shelves in the toilet, 13 bedside handrails, 14 bedside tables, pillows, bed sheets, air exhaust outlets, 15 and even the shoes. 16 However, one study has indicated that the SARS-CoV-2 contamination on environmental surfaces in the hospital is limited, although it may persist for a longer time on surfaces under controlled laboratory conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Contamination of SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC by COVID-19 Patients Staying in the Hospital for More Than Two Weeks

Ge,

Zhang,

Peng

et al. 2023

RMHP

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Background Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC have a longer course of disease. We detected the air, surfaces, and patient’s personal items in the wards of the second hospital of Nanjing during the outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta Variant to identify the environmental contamination, which provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of COVID-19 variation beads in the future. Methods In the cross-sectional study, we collected and analyzed clinical features, demographic and epidemiological data, laboratory and swab test results, and surface and air samples of 144 COVID-19 cases. Results The time from symptom onset to surface sampling was 25 days (IQR, 21 to 33 days). Positive throat swabs were detected in 52(36.1%) patients, of which only 8(5.6%) patients had N or ORF1a/b genes Ct value <35 on the surface sampling day. Among the 692 environmental surface and air specimens collected from 144 COVID-19 cases, 3 specimens (3/692, 0.4%) related to 5 cases (3.5%, 5/144) were detected positive on RT-PCR. Overall, bedside tables (2/144, 1.4%) were most likely to be contaminated, followed by toilet seats (1/81, 1.2%). Conclusion The environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC-infected cases with disease duration of more than two weeks is limited.

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