Jin Tingxu, Li Jun, Yang Jun, Li Jiawei, Hong Feng, Long Hai, Deng Qihong, Qin Yong, Jiang Jiajun, Zhou Xuan, Song Qian, Pan Chunliu, Luo Peng
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Guiyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guiyang 550025, China.
Sustain Cities Soc. 2021 Feb;65:102446. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2020.102446. Epub 2020 Aug 15.
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading worldwide, there have been arguments regarding the aerosol transmission of its causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Moreover, some re-detectable positive (RP) patients have been reported. However, little attention has been given to the follow-up of recovered patients, and there is no environmental evidence to determine whether these patients continue to shed the virus after they test negative. Therefore, with an objective to test the hypothesis of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, it is necessary to 1) determine whether SARS-CoV-2 particles are present in the indoor air and 2) determine whether recovered patients are still shedding virus, thus providing much-needed environmental evidence for the management of COVID-19 patients during the recovery period. In this study, surface and air samples were collected from an intensive care unit (ICU) containing one ready-for-discharge patient. All surface samples tested negative, but the air samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. This implies that SARS-CoV-2 particles may be shed in aerosol form for days after patients test negative. This finding may be one of the reasons for the observation of RP patients; therefore, there is a need for improved clinical and disease management guidelines for recovered COVID-19 patients.
随着2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在全球范围内传播，关于其病原体严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的气溶胶传播存在诸多争论。此外，已有一些复阳（RP）患者的报道。然而，康复患者的随访工作很少受到关注，并且没有环境证据来确定这些患者在检测呈阴性后是否仍在排出病毒。因此，为了检验SARS-CoV-2空气传播的假设，有必要：1）确定室内空气中是否存在SARS-CoV-2颗粒；2）确定康复患者是否仍在排出病毒，从而为COVID-19患者康复期的管理提供急需的环境证据。在本研究中，从一间有一名即将出院患者的重症监护病房（ICU）采集了表面和空气样本。所有表面样本检测均为阴性，但空气样本检测出SARS-CoV-2呈阳性。这意味着患者检测呈阴性后，SARS-CoV-2颗粒可能会以气溶胶形式排出数天。这一发现可能是观察到复阳患者的原因之一；因此，需要改进针对康复COVID-19患者的临床和疾病管理指南。
