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Dumont-Leblond N, Veillette M, Mubareka S, Yip L, Longtin Y, Jouvet P, Paquet Bolduc B, Godbout S, Kobinger G, McGeer A, Mikszewski A, Duchaine C. Low incidence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in acute care hospital rooms with optimized ventilation. Emerg Microbes Infect 2021; 9:2597-2605. [PMID: 33206022 PMCID: PMC7734095 DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1850184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The worldwide repercussions of COVID-19 sparked important research efforts, yet the detailed contribution of aerosols in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been elucidated. In an attempt to quantify viral aerosols in the environment of infected patients, we collected 100 air samples in acute care hospital rooms hosting 22 patients over the course of nearly two months using three different air sampling protocols. Quantification by RT-qPCR (ORF1b) led to 11 positive samples from 6 patient rooms (Ct < 40). Viral cultures were negative. No correlation was observed between particular symptoms, length of hospital stay, clinical parameters, and time since symptom onset and the detection of airborne viral RNA. Low detection rates in the hospital rooms may be attributable to the appropriate application of mitigation methods according to the risk control hierarchy, such as increased ventilation to 4.85 air changes per hour to create negative pressure rooms. Our work estimates the mean emission rate of patients and potential airborne concentration in the absence of ventilation. Additional research is needed understand aerosolization events occur, contributing factors, and how best to prevent them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Dumont-Leblond
- Centre de recherche de l'institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Quebec City, Canada
| | - Marc Veillette
- Centre de recherche de l'institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Quebec City, Canada
| | - Samira Mubareka
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Lily Yip
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Yves Longtin
- Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada.,Lady Davis Research Institute, Montreal, Canada
| | - Philippe Jouvet
- Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal, St. Justine Hospital, Montreal, Canada
| | - Bianka Paquet Bolduc
- Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Québec, Canada
| | - Stéphane Godbout
- Institut de Recherche & Development Agroenvironmental, Quebec City, Canada
| | - Gary Kobinger
- Département de microbiologie-infectiologie et d'immunologie, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada
| | - Allison McGeer
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, USA.,Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Alex Mikszewski
- The City University of New York, CIUS Building Performance Lab, New York, NY, USA
| | - Caroline Duchaine
- Centre de recherche de l'institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Quebec City, Canada.,Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.,Canada Research Chair on Bioaerosols, Quebec City, Canada
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