The airborne transmission of the coronavirus is an issue that presents an important controversy even at this stage of the pandemic that is hitting 191 countries in the world. For this reason, a team of Spanish scientists (from the Murcian Institute for Biosanitary Research, IMIB) has carried out a study to determine the transmission of aerosols from patients with coronavirus infection using “COVID-19 traps” that included different intact surfaces; that is, the device detects the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces that have not been touched . And they already have the results of the first pilot test carried out in a real setting (not a laboratory): a hospital room tested positive for COVID-19 in one of these traps that was placed more than a meter away. above the patient, thus suggesting an aerosol transmission.
What are these “covid traps” like?
The covid trap consists of a series of different surfaces contained in boxes and protected by a plastic mesh so that no one has the chance to touch them. According to the article published in the journal Science of Total Environment , the traps tested in the experiment were able to retain the virus on two types of surfaces (glass and plastic), thereby demonstrating the existence of transmission by aerosols.
The scientists analyzed 42 swab samples from 6 different surfaces placed in the rooms of 6 patients with a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 with RT-PCR technique to evaluate the presence of the virus and its stability. Samples were collected at 24, 48 and 72 hours.
Usefulness of these traps
According to the scientists, the implication of these traps is interesting , as they could serve as early detection tools for the coronavirus in environments as delicate as closed but also public spaces, such as hospitals, educational centers or indoor leisure areas. Its immediate benefit would be a huge saving of massive tests, which would not be necessary thanks to these devices whose test was done in the rooms of the Virgen de la Arrixaca University Clinical Hospital in El Palmar (Murcia) of patients confirmed with the COVID-19 disease , although with a different degree of viral load. Specifically, the patients were in an intensive care unit (ICU) and a COVID-19 ward unit (CWU) of this Spanish hospital. The result was a positive detection in one of the rooms after 72 hours of having installed the device in the room. Patients or healthcare personnel could not touch the surfaces, so the spread of the virus was unequivocally caused by airborne transmission.
“Our results, although preliminary, point to the importance of airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus indoors and may shed some light on this debate,” the authors explain.
The authors state that this pilot test demonstrates the high risk of transmission by aerosols although it cannot be ruled out that the virus arrives by another route (such as, for example, larger respiratory droplets), because the study was quite small. Precisely for this reason, they are already carrying out the second part of the investigation.
Be that as it may, the experts request that we do not neglect the WHO recommendations such as hand washing, maintaining social distance or wearing a mask.
Reference: ‘Evidences of SARS-CoV-2 virus air transmission indoors using several untouched surfaces: A pilot study’. Esteban Orenes-Piñero, Francisco Baño, Diana Navas Carrillo. Antonio Moreno-Docón, Juana María Maríne, Rocío Misiego, Pablo Ramírez. Science of Total Environment, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142317
