Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Centre Intégré Universitaire en Santé et Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Am J Infect Control. 2021 Jun;49(6):701-706. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.02.004. Epub 2021 Feb 12.
Long-term care facilities (LTCF) are environments particularly favorable to coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic outbreaks, due to the at-risk population they welcome and the close proximity of residents. Yet, the transmission dynamics of the disease in these establishments remain unclear.
Air and no-touch surfaces of 31 rooms from 7 LTCFs were sampled and SARS-CoV-2 was quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).
Air samples were negative but viral genomes were recovered from 20 of 62 surface samples at concentrations ranging from 13 to 36,612 genomes/surface. Virus isolation (culture) from surface samples (n = 7) was negative.
The presence of viral RNA on no-touch surfaces is evidence of viral dissemination through air, but the lack of airborne viral particles in air samples suggests that they were not aerosolized in a significant manner during air sampling sessions. The air samples were collected 8 to 30 days after the residents' symptom onset, which could indicate that viruses are aerosolized early in the infection process. Additional research is needed to evaluate viral viability conservation and the potential role of direct contact and aerosols in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in these institutions.
长期护理机构（LTCF）由于接待的高风险人群和居民之间的密切接触，是特别有利于冠状病毒病（SARS-CoV-2）大流行爆发的环境。然而，该环境中疾病的传播动态仍不清楚。
从 7 家 LTCF 的 31 个房间采集空气和无接触表面样本，并通过实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）定量 SARS-CoV-2。
空气样本为阴性，但从 62 个表面样本中的 20 个样本中回收了病毒基因组，浓度范围为 13 到 36612 个基因组/表面。对表面样本（n=7）进行病毒分离（培养）的结果为阴性。
无接触表面存在病毒 RNA 证明了病毒通过空气传播，但空气样本中未检测到空气中的病毒颗粒，这表明在空气采样过程中，它们没有以显著的气溶胶形式释放。空气样本是在居民出现症状后 8 到 30 天采集的，这可能表明病毒在感染过程的早期就以气溶胶形式释放。需要进一步研究以评估病毒的存活能力保护以及直接接触和气溶胶在这些机构中 SARS-CoV-2 传播中的潜在作用。
