ArticlePloS one2021
Aerosol SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals and long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Viral cultures for assessing airborne infectiousness of SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- SARS-CoV-2 air sampling: A systematic review on the methodologies for detection and infectivity.Indoor air · 2022Pooled it
- Creating respiratory pathogen-free environments in healthcare and nursing-care settings: a comprehensive review.GeroScience · 2025Review
- Evaluation of the decontamination efficacy of a portable air cleaner using 275-nm UVC-LED radiation against airborne Coronavirus and Influenza virus.GMS hygiene and infection control · 2025Article
- Hospital-borne hazardous air pollutants and air cleaning strategies amid the surge of SARS-CoV-2 new variants.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Article
- Article
- Stability of Feline Coronavirus in aerosols and dried in organic matrices on surfaces at various environmental conditions.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace: Key findings from a rapid review of the literature.Aerosol science and technology : the journal of the American Association for Aerosol Research · 2023Article
- Article
- A cost-effectiveness assessment of the operational parameters of central HVAC systems during pandemics.Building simulation · 2023Article
- Genetic Load of SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosols Collected in Operating Theaters.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2022Article
- Disinfection and decontamination in the context of SARS-CoV-2-specific data.Journal of medical virology · 2022Review
- Multi-species outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in a zoological institution, with the detection in two new families of carnivores.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2022Article
- Airborne Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Hospitals: Effects of Aerosol-Generating Procedures, HEPA-Filtration Units, Patient Viral Load, and Physical Distance.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Article
- Evaluating SARS-CoV-2 airborne quanta transmission and exposure risk in a mechanically ventilated multizone office building.Building and environment · 2022Article
- Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Droplet and Airborne Transmission Heterogeneity.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Genome in the Indoor Air and High-Touch Surfaces.International journal of environmental research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFew studies have quantified aerosol concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals and long-term care homes, and fewer still have examined samples for viability. This information is needed to clarify transmission risks beyond close contact.
methodsWe deployed particulate air samplers in rooms with COVID-19 positive patients in hospital ward and ICU rooms, rooms in long-term care homes experiencing outbreaks, and a correctional facility experiencing an outbreak. Samplers were placed between 2 and 3 meters from the patient. Aerosol (small liquid particles suspended in air) samples were collected onto gelatin filters by Ultrasonic Personal Air Samplers (UPAS) fitted with <2.5μm (micrometer) and <10 μm size-selective inlets operated for 16 hours (total 1.92m3), and with a Coriolis Biosampler over 10 minutes (total 1.5m3). Samples were assayed for viable SARS-CoV-2 virus and for the viral genome by multiplex PCR using the E and N protein target sequences. We validated the sampling methods by inoculating gelatin filters with viable vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), and with three concentrations of viable SARS-CoV-2, operating personal samplers for 16hrs, and quantifying viable virus recovery by TCID50 assay.
resultsIn total, 138 samples were collected from 99 rooms. RNA samples were positive in 9.1% (6/66) of samples obtained with the UPAS 2.5μm samplers, 13.5% (7/52) with the UPAS 10μm samplers, and 10.0% (2/20) samples obtained with the Coriolis samplers. Culturable virus was not recovered in any samples. Viral RNA was detected in 15.1% of the rooms sampled. There was no significant difference in viral RNA recovery between the different room locations or samplers. Method development experiments indicated minimal loss of SARS-CoV-2 viability via the personal air sampler operation.
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