SynthesisAnnals of work exposures and health2021
Contamination of Air and Surfaces in Workplaces with SARS-CoV-2 Virus: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Annals of work exposures and health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A review on measurements of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in air in outdoor and indoor environments: Implication for airborne transmission.The Science of the total environment · 2022Pooled it
- SARS-CoV-2 and the role of fomite transmission: a systematic review.F1000Research · 2021Pooled it
- The relative effectiveness of personal protective equipment and environmental controls in protecting healthcare workers from Covid-19.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Negligible risk of surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in public transportation.Journal of travel medicine · 2023Article
- UVC-Based Air Disinfection Systems for Rapid Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 Present in the Air.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Air and on Surfaces in Rooms of Infected Nursing Home Residents.Annals of work exposures and health · 2023Article
- SARS-CoV-2 in Atmospheric Particulate Matter: An Experimental Survey in the Province of Venice in Northern Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Transmission of Respiratory Viral Diseases to Health Care Workers: COVID-19 as an Example.Annual review of public health · 2022Review
- Surface and Air Contamination With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 From Hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients in Toronto, Canada, March-May 2020.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Dispersion of SARS-CoV-2 in air surrounding COVID-19-infected individuals with mild symptoms.Indoor air · 2022Article
- SARS-CoV-2 in the Air Surrounding Patients during Nebulizer Therapy.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2022Article
- Expert elicitation on the relative importance of possible SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes and the effectiveness of mitigations.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Environmental sampling for SARS-CoV-2 in long term care facilities: lessons from a pilot study.Wellcome open research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThis systematic review aimed to evaluate the evidence for air and surface contamination of workplace environments with SARS-CoV-2 RNA and the quality of the methods used to identify actions necessary to improve the quality of the data.
methodsWe searched Web of Science and Google Scholar until 24 December 2020 for relevant articles and extracted data on methodology and results.
resultsThe vast majority of data come from healthcare settings, with typically around 6% of samples having detectable concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and almost none of the samples collected had viable virus. There were a wide variety of methods used to measure airborne virus, although surface sampling was generally undertaken using nylon flocked swabs. Overall, the quality of the measurements was poor. Only a small number of studies reported the airborne concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA, mostly just reporting the detectable concentration values without reference to the detection limit. Imputing the geometric mean air concentration assuming the limit of detection was the lowest reported value, suggests typical concentrations in healthcare settings may be around 0.01 SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA copies m-3. Data on surface virus loading per unit area were mostly unavailable.
conclusionsThe reliability of the reported data is uncertain. The methods used for measuring SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses in work environments should be standardized to facilitate more consistent interpretation of contamination and to help reliably estimate worker exposure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.