Air Change Rate and SARS-CoV-2 Exposure in Hospitals and Residences: A Meta-Analysis

Details

• Personal Author:
  Agdas D ; Fan ZH ; Lednicky JA ; Makuch R ; Shankar SN ; Vass WB ; Wu C-Y ; Zhang Y
• Description:
  As COVID-19 swept across the globe, increased ventilation and implementation of air cleaning were emphasized by the US CDC and WHO as important strategies to reduce the risk of inhalation exposure to the virus. To assess whether higher ventilation and air cleaning rates lead to lower exposure risk to SARS-CoV-2, 1274 manuscripts published between April 2020 and September 2022 were screened using key words "airborne SARS-CoV-2 or "SARS-CoV-2 aerosol." Ninety-three studies involved air sampling at locations with known sources (hospitals and residences) were selected and associated data were compiled. Two metrics were used to assess exposure risk: SARS-CoV-2 concentration and SARS-CoV-2 detection rate in air samples. Locations were categorized by type (hospital or residence) and proximity to the location housing the isolated/quarantined patient (primary or secondary). The results showed that hospital wards had lower airborne virus concentrations than residential isolation rooms. A negative correlation was found between airborne virus concentrations in primary-occupancy areas and air changes per hour (ACH). In hospital settings, sample positivity rates were significantly reduced in secondary-occupancy areas compared to primary-occupancy areas, but they were similar across sampling locations in residential settings. ACH and sample positivity rates were negatively correlated, though the effect was diminished when ACH values exceeded 8. While limitations associated with diverse sampling protocols exist, data considered by this meta-analysis support the notion that higher ACH may reduce exposure risks to the virus in ambient air. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Communicable Diseases Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Health Safety Ventilation Viral Diseases
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Particles Air Cleaning COVID-19 Health Care Facilities SARS-CoV-2 Viral Diseases
• ISSN:
  0278-6826
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Florida ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  217-243
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069740
• Citation:
  Aerosol Sci Technol 2024 Mar; 58(3):217-243
• Contact Point Address:
  Chang-Yu Wu, Department of Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
• Email:
  cxw964@miami.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Florida
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  Aerosol Science and Technology
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:315c60e0aa818b93b0c73038635b366f3e093144ecc57790991f090373e6c78a8e9653bc38d36cb6ab8ebbf9341ae639def3ab62eb9edfd2b672f8089d1eb2dd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208102/cdc_208102_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.20 MB ]