H. Kanamori, David J Weber, W. Rutala
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2020
Abstract The healthcare environment serves as one of the possible routes of transmission of epidemiologically important pathogens, but the role of the contaminated environment on SARS-CoV-2 transmission remains unclear. We reviewed survival, contamination, and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via environmental surfaces and shared medical devices as well as environmental disinfection of COVID-19 in healthcare settings. Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, have been demonstrated to survive for hours to days on environmental surfaces depending on experimental conditions. The healthcare environment is frequently contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 RNA in most studies but without evidence of viable virus. Although direct exposure to respiratory droplets is the main transmission route of SARS-CoV-2, the contaminated healthcare environment can potentially result in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as described with other coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. It is important to improve thoroughness of cleaning/disinfection practice in healthcare facilities and select effective disinfectants to decontaminate inanimate surfaces and shared patient care items.
Cited by 8 publications.
Field of study: Medicine