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Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Homes of COVID 19 Patients
GEDIMINAS MAINELIS, Robert Laumbach, Kathleen Black, Nirmala Thomas Myers, Pamela Ohman-Strickland, Shahnaz Alimokhtari-V, Adriana De Resende, Alicia Legard, Leonardo Calderón, Shirin Hastings, Howard Kippen, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 505
Working Group: Infectious Aerosols in the Age of COVID-19
Abstract
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has already killed over 3 million people worldwide, with over 500,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, and the toll is still climbing. One key challenge is to reduce secondary attack rates among household contacts, which are estimated by the CDC to be as high as 50%. In addition to close interpersonal contact, emerging evidence suggests that airborne transmission is important for spreading SARS-CoV-2 infections in enclosed and/or poorly ventilated spaces, such as homes.
Here we provide the first assessment of the prevalence of airborne particles containing SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the homes of infected, self-isolating individuals. Subjects were recruited in fall/winter of 2020-2021 through an email flyer delivered at the time of notification of test positivity. Saliva screening at the time of the first visit verified continued positivity for all reported subjects. 24-hr air samples were collected in the isolation room (the primary room used by the subject) and the common room (an adjacent room) on PTFE filters (SKC Inc., Eighty Four, PA) using filter holders and Leland Legacy pumps (SKC Inc.) operated at 10 L/min. The samples were eluted from the filters by vortexing them 3x for 10 seconds in RNA grade water and then analyzed by RT-PCR for the presence of three SARS-CoV-2-specific genes. The study is ongoing, but so far, in air samples of nine homes out of fifteen, at least one gene was detected with Ct values < 37. The proportion of homes with detection for a particular gene ranged from 27% to 50%. Our results show that SARS-CoV-2 RNA is common in the home air of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, in addition to social distancing, hand hygiene, and face covering, mitigating airborne viral loads by other or additional means should be seriously considered to minimize disease transmission in homes.
Acknowledgments: Supplement to NIEHS P30 Center ES05022; NIH/CATS (UL1TR003017);