COVID-19 exposure possible outside of home isolation rooms
Study finds airborne particles containing the virus beyond self-isolation rooms in homes of COVID-19 infected people

Date:
January 27, 2022
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
A new study has detected tiny airborne particles containing RNA from
the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, both inside and outside of the
rooms in which infected people were self-isolating at home. This
finding suggests that airborne transmission beyond the isolation
rooms in homes may pose a risk of infection to other home occupants.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A Rutgers study has detected tiny airborne particles containing RNA
from the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, both inside and outside of the
rooms in which infected people were self-isolating at home. This finding suggests that airborne transmission beyond the isolation rooms in homes
may pose a risk of infection to other home occupants.


==========================================================================
The study, published in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic
Society, is the first report of household air contamination with
SARS-CoV-2 RNA under typical daily living conditions when a household
member is infected. Airborne transmission in crowded living conditions
may be one reason for higher rates of COVID-19 infection among people
with lower incomes.

"Risk of infection from larger respiratory droplets that rapidly
settle onto surfaces, typically within two meters of the source, can
be reduced by hand- washing, social distancing and face masks, but
the tiny respiratory particles that stay suspended in air for hours,
require air filtration, ventilation or better masks for prevention,"
said lead author Howard Kipen, a professor at Rutgers School of Public
Health and director of Clinical Research and Occupational Medicine at
the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.

The researchers collected air samples from 11 homes in rooms where a
newly infected person was isolating, as well as in an adjacent common room
to test for the presence of three SARS-CoV-2-specific genes in airborne particles. The researchers found positive air samples for at least one
of three virus genes in six of the 11 isolation rooms and in six of the
nine common rooms. Seven of these nine homes reported no other cases in
the home.

To better understand how the virus spreads in the home, participants were
asked to record their time in the isolation room and the common room. "We discovered that many did not strictly adhere to self-isolation, with eight
of the 11 infected study participants reporting spending from a few hours
to 14 hours in the common room and five of 11 participants reporting
spending time in other areas of the home," Kipen said. Additionally,
in four of the homes other residents were also positive or had symptoms.

"Our indoor air sampling data clearly demonstrated that measurable
airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present in the air in the homes of most
infected people, not only in the isolation room, but, importantly,
elsewhere in the home," Kipen said. "The findings show that tiny airborne particles containing SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be found in homes of infected individuals beyond the room where they are supposedly self-isolating."
Other Rutgers authors include Robert J. Laumbach, Gediminas Mainelis,
Kathleen G. Black, Nirmala T. Myers, Pamela Ohman-Strickland, Shahnaz Alimokhtari, Shirin Hastings, Alicia Legard, Adriana de Resende, Leonardo Caldero'n and Frederic T. Lu.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Original written
by Patti Verbanas.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Robert J Laumbach, Gediminas Mainelis, Kathleen G Black, Nirmala
T Myers,
Pamela Ohman-Strickland, Shahnaz Alimokhtari, Shirin Hastings,
Alicia Legard, Adriana De Resende, Leonardo Caldero'n, Frederic T
Lu, Howard M Kipen. Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Residences
of Adults with COVID- 19. Annals of the American Thoracic Society,
2021; DOI: 10.1513/ AnnalsATS.202107-847RL ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220127114313.htm

--- up 7 weeks, 5 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)