Low incidence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in acute care hospital rooms with optimized ventilation

Auteurs

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, Canada, 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, United States
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

Type de document

Études primaires

Année de publication

2020

Langue

Anglais

Titre de la revue

Emerging Microbes and Infections

Première page

2597

Dernière page

2605

Résumé

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. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, on behalf of Shanghai Shangyixun Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.

Mots-clés

Coronavirus du SRAS 2, SARS CoV2, Aérosol, Aerosol, Échantillonnage dans l'air, Air sampling, Ventilation, Hôpital, Hospital

Numéro de projet IRSST

2017-0004

Citation recommandée

Dumont-Leblond, N., Veillette, M., Mubareka, S., Yip, L., Longtin, Y., Jouvet, P., . . . Duchaine, C. (2020). Low incidence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in acute care hospital rooms with optimized ventilation. Emerging Microbes and Infections, 9(1), 2597-2605. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1850184