Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Aerosol in Residences of Adults with COVID-19

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alimokhtari S ; Black KG ; Calderón L ; de Resende A ; Hastings S ; Kipen HM ; Laumbach RJ ; Legard A ; Lu FT ; Mainelis G ; Myers NT ; Ohman-Strickland P
• Description:
  Although vaccines are effective at preventing coronavirus disease (COVID-19), uncertainty remains about practical public health responses to vaccine-resistant variants or future novel respiratory viruses. Reducing attack rates in households, estimated to be as high as 54% in the United States, is a key strategy. In addition to close physical contact, emerging opinion suggests that airborne transmission is linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spread, particularly in lower-socioeconomic-status households with greater crowding, even if isolation and personal protective equipment minimize large particle transmission. The size-dependent airborne behavior of particles originating from the respiratory tract has a continuous distribution from tens of nanometers to tens of microns. Recognizing this continuity, there are two primary pathways, requiring different control strategies, by which respiratory viral infections spread through air to others. First, larger respiratory droplets that rapidly settle onto surfaces, typically within 1-2 meters of the source, are amenable to hand hygiene, social distancing, and face masks. Second, albeit with more limited direct evidence, is aerosolization and spread of smaller respiratory droplets, or droplet nuclei, primarily <0.5 micrometers in final size, capable of staying suspended in air for hours and requiring filtering or ventilation for interdiction. We report the first naturalistic observations of household air contamination with SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We know of no prior reports of air sampling for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in homes without manipulation of the behavior or activity of participants. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Communicable Diseases Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Particles Air Sampling Coronavirus COVID-19 Disease Transmission Exposure Assessment Indoor Environments Particle Aerodynamics Particle Size SARS-CoV-2
• ISSN:
  2329-6933
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  338-341
• Volume:
  19
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064524
• Citation:
  Ann Am Thorac Soc 2022 Feb; 19(2):338-341
• Contact Point Address:
  Howard M. Kipen, M.D., M.P.H., Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
• Email:
  kipen@eohsi.rutgers.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d8df55aee5fe94f7a38c6c079ba9f16c469df9c69be952a7f1040b7cf0846ed7235a2a37b054e6fa659dcc746edeecdd3f13d5decfa65facd8343174e133866
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222971/cdc_222971_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 150.14 KB ]